


How to Make Friends and Influence Frost Giants

by Bethakinz



Series: Life and Times of a New Stark [3]
Category: Marvel (Movies), The Avengers (2012), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-21
Updated: 2014-01-06
Packaged: 2017-12-03 04:52:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 24,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/694375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bethakinz/pseuds/Bethakinz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maria Stark is ordered by Nick Fury to lead a new team of Avengers into battle against the Jotuns. But, can they defeat them on their own? And are there greater forces at play?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_**Maria POV** _

I was just starting to wake up. I peeked through my eyelashes and the sunlight blinded me. I squeezed my eyes tightly together before opening them completely. I rolled onto my back and sat up. I stretched my arms up to the ceiling and yawned. I looked beside me, Loki was still laying there asleep. I untangled my self from the sheets and slid out of bed. I threw Loki's green shirt on over my head and padded around looking for the rest of my clothes.

"Hey." I heard behind me. I turned around and Loki flung my bra at me.

"Thanks. Do you know where my shorts ended up?"

"I think those came off in the living room." He ran his fingers through his hair and got out of bed. I opened the door and made my way to the living room. My shorts were  located by the front door. Wow, I didn't make it far before clothes started coming off. I slid them on and started lacing up my shoes. I could hear Loki shuffle into the kitchen.

"What time is it?" I yawned

"Um, about 9ish."

I nodded to myself and made my way toward him. I leaned against the counter across from him.

"Hungry?" he asked

"Yeah but, I should probably get home before Bruce comes over."

"Alright." he leaned over the counter and kissed me goodbye

I grabbed my bag and headed for the door "Same time next week?"

He smiled "Same time next week." He agreed

"Just a fair warning but, next week may actually be the week I show up in a metal suit of armor and fight you to the death."

"I'm looking forward to it. Just keep in mind, next week might be the week I do some magic and change you over to the dark side."

"Honey, you don't need magic to bring me to the dark side... just good sex and chocolate."

He gave me an evil look "Then I'm already halfway there!" he laughed maniacally

"Yeah, you have given me chocolate before, now all you need is-" he threw a spatula at me. I stuck my tongue out at him and walked out the door.

This had been a reaccuring thing for the past few months. After the first time I swore to myself that I would forget it ever happened. I went through my daily life just like normal. One day I was super stressed out and didn't know how to defeat this weird water monster guy and showed up at his apartment. I don't remember exactly how I got there but I ended up sitting on his couch talking to him about all the shit that was happening and it just made things...easier. Eventually we came up with the idea to electrocute him and in all the excitement of having a plan, we ended up having sex...again. I tried to stay away after that but, obviously, it didn't work out. I mean, we weren't serious or anything, we still saw other people and everything. Loki had just become my really _really_ close friend...and person I liked to shack up with. Nothing crazy.

I peeked through the front door of the Avengers tower, the front desk was empty. I tiptoed toward the stairwell and started the long journey up. I took the stairs instead of the elevator because I was less likely to run into Bruce. The first few floors were a museum dedicated to the Avengers, the next few were Stark industry labs and conference rooms, the last one before my flat and personal lab was an old training room used by the Avengers. I finally made it up to the top floor and was gasping for air. Why did this building need so many floors?

I quietly unlocked the door that led into my lab. I closed it as silently as I could.

"Where you sneaking in from?" Bruce asked from a work bench. I nearly jumped out of my skin.

I put on my best poker face "Sneaking in?"

"Maria, why else would you take the stairs?"

"I thought I could use the exercise, and I was obviously right." I put his hand on my chest "Feel how high my heart rate got?"

"Mhmm. We have thousands worth of exercise equipment and you wanted to take the stairs? Try again, where you sneaking in from?"

I took a different approach "Bruce, I am a grown women I do not need you-"

"Try again." he interrupted

I growled "I was out smoking crack!"

He sighed "Fine, don't tell me. I'll just have to find out on my own."

"Fine. You do that."

"You have a message from Nick Fury, he wants-"

"Fury? Like _thee_ Nick Fury?"

"Yes, _thee_ Nick Fury. He-"

"Have I met him before?"'

"At your father's funeral."

"What does he want?"

Bruce groaned "If you could shut up for two seconds, I would tell you."

"Oh," I looked at the floor "Sorry."

"He wants to schedule a meeting with you."

"About...?"

"I don't know, he couldn't say."

"Hmmm... Well, if he can't even say what it's about, I don't see why I should have to go."

" _Maria_ -"

I groaned "Can't I just have some _me_ time once and a while?"

Bruce threw up his hands and walked out of the lab.

_**Bruce POV** _

I was worried. Very _very_ worried. I knew Maria was doing something she shouldn't, _she_ knew she was doing something she shouldn't... I just didn't know what that something was yet. I stared into my glass of scotch. Only Maria could make it this hard to take care of someone. After Tony died it was my job to look after his industry, I sucked at that. Maria comes along and it is my job to take care of her too, still wasn't doing to great. God, that man put _way_ to much faith in me. I laid my head back against the couch and groaned. Maria was down in her lab working on some hologram thing for Jarvis...and it gave me an idea.

"Jarvis?" I called

"Yes, Dr. Banner?"

"Do you have a log of Maria's comings and goings for the last month?"

"Yes sir."

"Is there any sort of pattern?"

"Three sir."

"Let me hear 'em."

"Her most common departure times are: Tuesdays at 11:30AM, Fridays at 10PM, and, most recently, Thursdays at anytime from 7 to 11."

"Tuesdays she has meetings starting at noon,Fridays tend to be the nights she has parties to go to...What's on thursday?"

"There is nothing officially scheduled for thursday sir."

"Hmmm, Jarvis, keep an eye on this for me."

"Will do, sir."

"I'll find out what your up to Maria... Even if it kills me."

**_ Maria POV _ **

I was half asleep in the back of my limo on my way to some club with some other rich single girls. I didn't actually _have_ to go but, Bruce said it would be good for business if I rubbed elbows with people that could afford to buy some stocks.

I groaned "Happy, promise me you won't let anyone come home with me... no matter how much I insist."

"Yes ma'am. But, in case I fail, I would like you to know how stubborn you are after you've had a few."

"At this rate, I don't care if you have to kick some guy to the curb and stuff me in the trunk."

He laughed "We're here. Try to have some fun Maria."

"I promise to give it my best effort." He came around and opened the door for me. The second I stepped out of the car cameras started flashing. A thousand questions were being shouted my direction. I knew there was no way I could rush past all of the reporters in this dress. It was really pretty and blue but not the most reasonable in the movement category.

"Alright!" I shouted "I will answer _one_ question! From...you." I pointed at some young guy who was _obviously_ new to this sort of thing.

"U-um," he stuttered and looked at the little notebook in his hands "Are you in any serious relationships?"

I smiled the flirtiest smile possible "That depends... Are you?" I winked at him. He looked like he was going to swoon.

I walked past all the reporters into the bar. Once I was inside I met up with my "friends". While the music was good and the drinks highly drinkable... I just wasn't into is tonight. Most nights I would be out on the dance floor grinding on some random stranger but tonight my mind was elsewhere. I just couldn't stop thinking. What does Fury want? When are Loki and I going to realize our "not a relationship" is disturbingly unhealthy? How am I supposed to deal with the board of directors on tuesday? What if Bruce really does find out what I've been up too? The biggest thing was that I was wishing Loki was here. I wanted someone I could actually talk _with_ , not just talk _at_. I wanted someone to reassure me and let me know that it was all going to be okay. I really wanted to drown my self in alcohol but I knew that if I didn't want anyone coming home with me I would need to stay generally sober.

"Hey." Some guy chimed at me

"Can I help you?" I asked annoyed

"I think this is more of what _I_ can do for _you_." he put his hand on my thigh

I glared at him "You might want to move that hand."

Being the dumb fuck he was, he just moved in farther up. So, I responded in the best way I knew. I grabbed his hand with my right and slammed it against the bar followed by me punching him in the face with my left.

"Jesus!" he yelled "I thought they said you were easy!"

With that said, I hit him a second time...he hit the floor and it didn't seem like he would be getting up very soon. I took off my stupid heels and stormed out of the club. I looked around for the limo with the "STARK" plates. I threw the door open and and plopped down on the seat without looking. The car was driving before I could get a word out. The scary thing was...it wasn't Happy driving.

"Hey!" I shouted

"Sorry for the method Stark but I new you wouldn't see me unless I made you."

"Fury?" He pulled into an alley near by and got out of the driver's seat. I sat for a moment before getting out of the car, this had a very hitman feel... 

I opened the door "If I promise to get out of the car will you promise not to shoot me?" I asked 

He laughed "Sounds like a reasonable request."

I stepped out of the car and shut the door "Where's Happy?"

"Unconsious in the passenger seat, he'll come around in a little while."

"What do you want?"

"Miss Stark, I need your help."

"With what?"

"Reassembling the Avengers."


	2. Chapter 2

**_ Maria POV _ **

"You want me to _what?"_

"This is more important than you could ever imagine. I need you to choose out of potential recruits and form a second generation of Avengers."

I started laughing "Are you serious? You want _me_ to choose who gets to be part of the 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes'? I have the worst judgement of character _ever_."

Fury's expression didn't change "A serious threat is approaching and we need to be able to defend ourselves."

"Fury, are you aware that there are still three living Avengers left? Not counting Thor, you have Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner  _and_ Peter Parker. Why don't you pick one of them?"

"Because none of them know the Avengers like you do."

"What are you-"

He interrupted me "Yes, they were a part of the original team but, you have more than that. You saw them for what they were, you knew all of their strengths and weaknesses, you knew what caused them to malfunction, you knew what made them run smoothly, that is the environment you grew up in. There is _no one_  who knows better than you." He handed me several files "You have until noon tomorrow to look through these, that is when the interviews start."

I opened the first file and glanced at it. When I looked back up Fury was walking away and got into a S.H.I.E.L.D. car and took off.

I shook my head "That man has to be a hundred years old and he can still pull off that mysterious thing." I got into the driver's seat of my limo and headed for home.

*                                                            *                                                        *

It was probably about four in the morning and I was still sitting on my bed looking at different files. Aparantly, there was an "Avengers Academy" where you got trained to be a super hero and you had to take some test to be able to join the Avengers...I mean, what the fuck? Here is just a _sample_ of some of the people I might have to work with:

**T'Challa**   
_Born in Wakanda, Africa_   
_AKA Black Panther_   
_Gets his super human abilities from some magical plant_

**_Alexander Summers_ **   
_Born in Honolulu, Hawaii_   
_AKA Havok_   
_Gives off circular waves of destruction from his body_

  _ **Wanda Maximoff**  
 _ _Born in Wundagore Mountain, Transia_  
 _AKA Scarlet Witch_  
 _Blah blah blah mystic energy blah blah known terrorist_ _blah_

 

I mean come on Fury, you aren't giving me much to work with? I threw my hands up and fell back on my pillows. Why does the universe hate me? The sun was slowly coming up over the horizon, I had been awake all night trying to pick out of this stupid pile.

"Aren't there any decent super heroes out there?" I groaned to myself...I sat up quickly. There are decent super heroes, I'm just looking in the wrong place. I put some clothes on and ran out the front door. I got in my least conspicuous car and started my journey. I drove for about twenty minutes before I reached the house. I jumped out of the car and pounded on the door. No one answered... I guess I forgot how early it was. I pounded again. I heard some shuffling and a very tired looking Peter Parker answered the door.

"Maria? What are you doing here?" he mumbled

"Peter, did you enjoy being in the Avengers?"

"Um," he rubbed his eyes "I guess."

"Would you join again?"

"What? Like if I had to do it all over again or-"

"No, Fury is trying to reform the Avengers innitiative and I need help."

He was suddenly wide awake "Maria," he sighed "I-I wouldn't... Why would he pick you? You're just a kid. You're still young. Why would you want to ruin your life?"

"What?" this statement shocked me more than I could say

"Maria, being Spiderman ruined my life. I am only 39 and divorced and my hair is graying, I can barely get my daughter to talk to me and she lives here... If I got to go back in time I would still choose to be Spiderman but only knowing all the lives I have saved. I will help you in dire situations but...I'm not going back to that." the dissappointment must have been clear on my face because then he said "I'm sorry."

"Oh, um...okay. Bye." I turned away from him and began to walk away. I heard him sigh and the door close. I had just gotten to my car when I heard the door open again, I looked thinking it would be Peter but instead...it was May.

"Maria, wait!" she yelled

"Um, hey Mayday."

"I heard you talking to my dad...I was wondering if I could be of some help."

"You in the family business?"

She rolled her eyes "Who do you think Spider-Girl is?"

"Good point. Wanna be part of the new Avengers?" I didn't really know how else to ask

She thought for a moment "I don't have anything better to do."

I smiled. At least I had one person I knew on my side. "Stay by the phone, I'll call you."

She nodded and went back inside. I got back in my car, I was feeling more _very_ hopeful in this moment.

"Jarvis, call Corey."

"Yes Miss Stark."

I waited for him to pick up "Ugh, what do you want Maria? Do you know what time it is?"

"No, I have no idea what time it is. Do you?"

"Early Maria, that's what time it is." he growled

"Do you ever want to be like your parents?"

He groaned "Why?"

"Because I am giving you the chance to be like them."

"What, are we abandoning our offspring at our friends houses?"

"No, we are joining the Avengers...2nd Generation."

He was silent for a long moment "Wait, what?"

"Fury wants me to form a new Avengers, are you in or not?"

"Would I even qualify?"

"Corey, you are a better shot than your father ever was and you can see the future."

"I thought that part was just between you and me. Plus, it only happened like..twice."

"It happened seventeen times to be exact."

"Maria-"

"If you want to join show up at the tower at around noon." I hung up "Jarvis, send May the same message."

"Yes ma'am."

Fury and his little school girls won't stand a chance. If I had to form a team, they were going to be fucking amazing, God dammit.


	3. Chapter 3

**_ Maria POV _ **

I had called all of the heroes that I knew were still alive. Some had similar responses as Peter, others claimed they worked better alone, and one claimed he wouldn't because he didn't trust Fury as far as he could throw him(which would be pretty far but... I got the point). So the only person that I knew would come was May; Corey would probably come but I didn't know for sure. I looked at the clock, it was only about 9:30. I decided to take a little trip. I stood up from the kitchen table and headed for the elevator.

"Where you off to?" Bruce asked

"Just going for a walk. I need some time to clear my head."

"Alright." he didn't sound suspicious and that was comforting.

I exited the lobby and walked a few blocks before catching a taxi. He dropped me off in front of Loki's complex.

I walked in and greeted the guy at the front desk "Hey, Andrew."

He waved back "Here for Mr. Laufeyson?"

"Yup but one day Andrew.... it'll just be you and me."

He blushed "Mr. Laufeyson would probably kick the crap out of me, he _really_ likes you."

"I would protect you, how could I let someone hurt such a sweet face?" I got in the elevator and hit the button for the fourth floor. I gently knocked on 4B. Loki opened the door...wearing nothing but a towel.

"Ah!" I covered my eyes

"Why are you covering your eyes?"

"Why did you answer the door in a towel?"

"Because you've seen me naked before and it didn't seem like a big deal."

"What if it wasn't me at the door?"

"Maria, no one else knows where I live."

"What if I were a Jehovah's Witness or Mormon or something?"

"A what?"

I took my hands from off my eyes "A bible thumper."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

I stepped past him and entered his apartment "Sometimes, I forget you have no real Earthly experience. You have to start answering the door wearing clothes because people knock on random doors trying to teach you about God."

"Really? Like a door to door selling of Jesus?"

"Pretty much. Now put some clothes on, I want to have a conversation with you without having the urge to lick you."

He raised an eyebrow at me "Do you get that urge often?" I rolled my eyes and he went to get dressed. Once he was decent he sat on the couch and I put my head in his lap. He pulled my hair out of its bun and began untangling it with his fingers. I closed my eyes and sighed with contentment. "So," he began "You wanted to talk?"

"Yes, I just wanted to warn you that Fury is in town and you might want to stay under the radar for a while."

He nodded "Will do, I'll try and keep things...low-key."

I glared at him and he smirked "That was a horrible pun, you really aren't good with funny. You should probably stop before someone gets hurt."

He gave my hair a tug "What's Fury doing in town?"

"Weirdly enough, trying to restart the Avengers."

"Really?"

"Should I be telling you all of this? Do you evil guys have like.. conventions where you swap tips and trade info? Like a villian meet and greet?"

He laughed "No. Even if we did, I doubt I would be invited."

"Why not? Are you to _evil_ for them?"

" _Totally_." he agreed sarcastically "No, the problem is, I'm not evil enough. Almost everything I have done that was truly considered _evil,_ I did as someone else's puppet. That doesn't get you very high on the evil 'cool guy' list."

"There's a cool guy list?"

"A metaphorical one."

"Well, if you suck at being a bad guy, why not try your hand at being a good guy? You could join the Avengers."

"Yeah, I can totally see Fury rolling out the welcome wagon."

"Screw Fury, I _officially_ invite you."

"Oh well, if it's _official_." I gave him my best puppy look (which was pretty damn good) and he sighed "I'll think about it."

"Woo! That is probably one of the best answers I have heard all day."

He smiled down at me and continued running his fingers through my hair. We lounged in a comfortable silence. It was nice to not have to think or pretend I'm not frustrated. All I did was feel. Feel comfortable, feel safe, feel warm, I was just starting to doze off when I remebered.

"Ugh, what time is it?" I groaned

He looked over at his wall clock "11:24."

I groaned again "I have to go help Fury interview people for spots on the team."

"You have fun with that."

I stuck my tongue out at him and reluctantly flung my legs off the couch. I shuffled toward the door. "Sure you don't wanna come?"

He smiled sadly "I'm not the heroic type."

*                                                                     *                                                                      *

"You're late." Fury scolded

"Sorry, just getting some air."

"Mhmm," he looked skeptical "I want five on the team, after you we have four spots-"

"Two spots."

"What?"

"I kinda gave two away."

Fury groaned "Of _course_ you did. Well time to go address your people."

I sighed and stepped into the hallway full of people. I pulled Mayday out of the crowd. "Go wait in the empty conference room at the end of the hall to your left." She nodded and left. I glanced around hoping to see Corey. Right when I was about to give up he walked into the hall. I went up to him. "Hey, Corey." I grabbed his hand and led him toward the room with May in it "Wait here."

I stood in front of the mob and began to speak, they all quieted down quickly "Um, hey. I know all of you guys heard four spots but it's only two now...sorry." They all went back to talking except it was _far_ more agitated. "First up is..." I grabbed a random file from the middle "Thomas Shepherd." A white-haired, blue-eyed young man walked up.

"Where to?" He asked and I pointed to the door on my right. This was the start to a _very_ long day. After we had interviewed _everyone,_ Fury and I had to argue back and forth about who we were going to choose. It felt like I was sitting in this room for centuries....

"AHHH!!" I finally yelled "Why are we doing this anyway? What major emergency is there?"

"Maria-"

"No, I really want to know. What in the world-"

"The Jotuns have declared war."

I stopped dead "The...what?"

"They will be here in a matter of days."

I put my head down against the table "I'll agree to T'Challa but I would rather have Speed over Quicksilver. The Maximoff twins freak me the fuck out."

"Fair enough. I'll let them know." He got up and walked out.

We are going to war with Jotunheim... Can't life be easy _sometimes_? Can't I catch a break? Does the universe just hate me?

And of course, it's when you ask questions like that, things go from bad to worse.

 


	4. Chapter 4

_**Maria POV** _

That next morning, I was sitting at the kitchen table with Steve and Bruce. I told them about the Frost Giant situation we were going to be having.

Steve automatically wanted a tactical view of the situation "Do they have any special abilities? How _giant_ are they? What are there strengths and weaknesses?"

"Steve," I groaned "If we knew any of this we wouldn't having a problem."

"If only Thor decided to show up, he knows _all_ about Jotuns." Bruce sighed

There was a very defeated air surronding us... Steve began pacing back and forth and Bruce tapping his fingers.

I shot out of my chair "Eureka!" Bruce and Steve looked at me startled

"What?" Steve asked

"We may not have Thor...but, I may have something better." I stormed out of the room

"Should we follow her?" Steve asked

"No," Bruce replied "When she gets like this it's better just to let her be."

*                                         *                                      *

There I was again, pounding on 4B.

"Loki!" I shouted "Open the door!"

The door creaked open and he pulled me inside quickly.

"What are you doing?" he whisper yelled

"Why are we whispering?"

"Someone bugged my place...Your Fury already knows I'm here."

I looked around his apartment, there were boxes everywhere.

"You're leaving? Where are you gonna go?" I felt suddenly sad, I was loosing my best friend already. He must have noticed this upset me.

He smiled softly "Don't worry, I'm not going far." he pushed my hair out of my face "Did you need something? The door pounding sounded urgent."

"Oh yeah! I need all you know about Frost Giants." I sat down at a bar stool at his breakfast counter, he leaned against the counter next to me.

"Could you be less vague? I know _alot_ about the Jotuns."

"Yeah, I guess being one-"

"Even more than that, Asgard has been warring with Jotunheim since before dinosaurs roamed this planet."

"How long have _you_ been fighting Frost Giants?"

"Well...I think the vikings had found the Americas at about the same time I started on the whole Jotun slaughter thing."

"Wow, you're really old....Should I be creeped out by this?"

"I don't think so. My people just age differently than yours. Think of it like dog years almost, in actuality I am only about 30."

"Hm..."

"So, what do you need to know about Frost Giants?"

"So, giants. You're like 6'3", right? So if they are all about your height-"

"No no no no no, you have to remember, I was left to die because of how small I was."

"So, like, ten feet?"

"Closer to twenty."

"Oh," I looked down "Because _that's_ not intimidating at all. What do they look like?"

"Well, besides giant, they have this blue skin with all these patterns that-"

"You're blue? That's so cool! Can I see?"

" _NO."_

"Sorry, I just-"

"When they touch you, you freeze. They can make ice come from about anywhere. They have a tendency for cruelty so if you get caught, I reccommend suicide."

"Torture that bad?"

"For them, it's a sport. It's more than just pain, they get deep in your psyche and fuck around. They have turned great Asgardin warriors into into wimpering, cowering, vegetables. It's a horrible thing to see someone that shattered... In our youth my brother swore to smite them all..." his mind seemed to wander

" _Oh."_ The realization hit me, this was why Loki didn't want to see Thor or his family. Loki thought his family would see him as a monster. All of his psychological issues seemed to have one solution.

"What?"

"Nothing."

He raised his eyebrow and continued "Besides being gigantic and blue, they have a very similar anatomy to humans and you can kill them in the same ways. Only internal difference is that their hearts are directly in the middle of their chests, slightly lower than a humans would be. Stab them, shoot them, decapitate them, it all works. Why do you need to know?"

"Jotunheim has declared war on Midgard and will be here in a couple days."

"What? But, the Bifrost and-and..." he looked _very_ nervous

"Um, Loki? You alright?"

"Maria, I am kind of the most hated man in Jotunheim. This could end very badly, they won't just go after me, they will take out everything I care about."

"Why do they hate you so much?"

" _Well..._ Would you like to know about _before_ or _after_ I killed their king Laufey?"

"Wait, Laufey? Like you being Laufeyson, Laufey? Why did you kill your biological father?"

"To make Odin happy."

I face palmed "The things we do for our parents."

"I also tried to use the Bifrost to destroy their entire planet. Plus, before all of that, I kinda got a group of their 'radicals' killed on Thor's crowning day."

"Well, that would do it. Way to get on the top of a shit list."

"All of that just to please my father...Except for the radicals at Thor's coronation, that was just to piss Thor off." he laughed a little "Ah, good times."

I stared at him for a second "....You're a sick man."

"God of Mischeif, it's my title dear. Did you forget?"

I shook my head "I'm going to get this information back home. Maybe our new Avengers could use the information."

"How did that go, by the way?"

"God! It felt like it lasted _forever_! I think the event gave me gray hairs." I groaned

He laughed "Well, you better run off to your little trainies."

I hopped off of the stool "Let me know before you take off." I added on my way out the door.

"When I leave, you'll be the first to know."

That didn't make me feel any better, if he left I would be the _only_ one to know.

*                                                      *                                                  *

I shared all of the information with Bruce, Steve, and Fury. They didn't question my source but Fury kept staring at me. He knows, I know he knows, he knows I know he knows. Neither of us said a thing in front of Steve or Bruce 

Fury stood up "Maria, I have your team ready in the training room a floor down."

I took my cue. Fury and I got took the stairs, he stopped me halfway down.

"I know." he reported

"I am aware."

"It stops."

I looked at him in awe "What gives you the _right_ to-"

"It stops." he repeated

"Or what? Are you gonna tell on me?" I said it in a joking tone but I really feared that he would tell Bruce or Steve. They would be angry or dissappointed and I couldn't deal with that.

"Yes, and then afterward I'll stick Loki in a cage and shoot him into space. Fair enough?"

I rolled my eyes "Whatever." I shoved past him

"How long do you expect to get away with acting like a child?"

I had my hand on the handle of the door to the training room. I was going to retort but it wasn't even worth it, I opened the door stepped inside and slammed it behind me. I locked it behind me for good measure.

I looked around at my new "team", they were all doing lounging or doing various exercises. "Alright!" I shouted and they all stopped "It is _my_ job to make sure you all do _your_ job and make everything run smoothly."

T'Challa looked at me skeptically "How old are you?"

"22, nearly 23. Now I-"

"Are you even qualified?" Shepherd asked

"Look Speedy-"

"I think I have things in my refrigerator older than you."

"Hey! We are all gonna sit down and shut up or get the hell out!" Everyone sat down (well, except for Corey but he would have to  _look_ for a place to sit...) "Alrighty then, let's get the ball rolling. I was given this job, whether I wanted it or not, because I know better than anyone what made the Avengers tick. I know their triumphs _and_ their failures. Knowing all of this I have made up a short list of rules. First, there will be _no_ dating within the group. Hawkeye and Black Widow got themselves in trouble trying to save the other one _every_. _single_. _time_. You need to have your own back before you have anyone else's. Second, _DON'T_ _BE_ _STUPID!_ Save only those who can't save themselves. Also, if there is a puppy about to get stepped on, _leave_ it! If it's a kid, that's different. Don't do dumb shit that will get you killed. Third, _survive._ If you die, thousands die with you. Fourth,-"

"Are these going to last much longer?" Corey moaned

"Hush, you. Fourth, have eachother's back. If we can't trust eachother to have our backs how are we going to fight with eachother. And lastly-"

"Finally."

"Think on your feet. If we have a strategy and something goes wrong...fuck it! Try something new, adjust, be adaptable. With that said, I would like to welcome you all to the second generation of Avengers."

 


	5. Chapter 5

**_ Loki POV _ **

I had spent my afternoon smashing all of the bugs in my apartment. I was pretty sure I had destroyed them all but I still kept quiet, just in case. I was beginning to pack away my clothes into a suitcase, I wanted to travel light and I knew that I could come and pick up anything I really needed later. I had the next few months rent paid so I could store things here for a while. I had all the essentials packed and was about to take my leave when I felt something. Someone was in the apartment. I turned away from my bed to face my bedroom door and waited.

“Fury, are you going to lurk around all day?” I folded my arms across my chest.

Fury stepped into the doorway looking somewhat surprised “I guess in my old age I’m losing all of my stealth.”

“No, were you sneaking on anyone else you would have gone entirely undetected.” We stood in silence for a long moment. “Just stop in to say hello?”

“Here on business. How are you involved with the Jotuns?”

“I’m not.”

“Don’t think you can lie to me. You may have been able to pull the wool over Maria’s eyes but not mine. She thinks you’re a good guy but you and I know otherwise.”

“While that may be true, I still have nothing to do with the Frost Giants; they want me dead more than you do.

He nodded and turned as if to leave “If in _any_ way you compromise this mission, I will hand you over to the Frost Giants on a silver platter. Stay away from the Stark girl; she needs to worry about her team.” With that he left.

**_ Maria POV  _ **

I would like to mention now that, teaching a bunch of solo artists to do a group performance was _not_ easy. T’Challa had to micromanage _everything_ , Speedy could not sit still for _two freaking seconds,_ Corey had to be sarcastic the whole time, and May didn’t seem to be able to stick up for herself during verbal confrontation. My head was about to explode! I pulled my pillow over my face and snuggled into the blankets of my bed. I refused to get up until at least noon tomorrow. I slowly began to doze off.

I was jolted awake. By the amount of drool on my face, I would say I was asleep for a couple hours. Someone shook me.

“Maria.” Corey whispered

_“What?”_ I groaned

“I have to talk to you.”

“Shouldn’t you be at home sleeping? In your own bed?”

“This is urgent!” He yelled...whisperingly…Whisper yelled? Is that a thing? Man I’m tired.

I sat up slowly. “What’s happening?”

“I had a dream.”

“Okay, Dr. King. Dreams are generally accepted as a normal occurrence and-“

“No, it was one of _those_ dreams. You know the ones that…happen.”

I was suddenly wide awake “Anything interesting?”

We sat crisscross on the bed. “Lots of things. It was kinda fuzzy, not everything made sense. These giant blue things, which I assume are the Jotuns, had taken over and there was this really tall guy you were with and then you were dead in the desert.”

“…Out of all of the _dreams_ that you have had, this one is the weirdest. I mean, I always thought the fact that you could see in your dreams was interesting but this… this is a whole new level of weird. How did I get from Manhattan to the desert and who the hell is this _guy_?” I asked him but I was afraid I already knew.

“Well, he was really tall with black hair and green eyes. Do you know anyone like that?”

“There are tons of guys that look like that, I bet.” I was trying to reassure myself more than him.

“He looked pretty unique to me.”

“How would you know? You can only see when you are asleep anyway.” I brushed my worries aside.

“I feel like you should be more nervous about this. Maria, _you_ **_died_**. Be worried, I have never had a _dream_ that didn’t come true.”

“Maybe this wasn’t a _dream_ but just a common variety dream. This does have a slight tinge of dream logic.”

He looked a little less worried “I guess, just- Yeah, you’re probably right. Um…Do you mind if I stay over? I mean, I know you’re a grown adult but you’re here alone and stuff and I worry.”

“Worry? About me? I didn’t know you cared.”

“Well, you’re the only family I really have.”

I smiled at him and took his hand in mine “Yeah Corey, you can stay the night.” I got up to show him to the guest room when I saw it; a bright shining portal opening in the sky. Thunder began crashing and the Earth began gently shaking beneath our feet. “Mother of God!”

“What? What is it?”

“Corey, if you could see… you would be terrified.”

“I’m terrified now! What’s happening?”

“Jotunheim has come to play.”


	6. Chapter 6

**_ Loki POV _ **

_(1:00AM-1:15AM)_

I was staring out the window. I knew I should have been panicking but I could only feel one thing…homesick. I know it was a silly feeling. The world was being invaded by vicious giants of ice and we were probably all going to die and all I could do was miss my home. I don’t even know what brought this feeling on. Probably when I realized the Bifrost was fixed. I wonder how Jotunheim got use of it. I had my pack of clothes and weapons on me and I should have probably made my escape while I still had the chance. I could hear heavy thudding footsteps coming down the hall.

I sighed “Best save my melancholy for later.”

I heard the door get bashed open and things breaking in the other room. I turned away from my window toward my door. The first giant crashed his way in the room. I pulled out a knife and sliced through his stomach and he was down in the first few seconds. But, the Jotuns had come prepared; more than a dozen entered my room and I was soon overcome with Frost Giants.

**_ Maria POV _ **

_(12:30AM-1:30AM)_

If I didn’t know this shiny sky thing was here to bring about the destruction of man, it would have been kinda pretty. It was a rainbow of colors and, were I not in panic mode, I would have been awestruck.  I grabbed Corey’s hand and ran for the lab. The Earth was shaking more and more violently and it was becoming hard to stand up straight. I took a quiver from its place on the shelf.

“Bow?” he asked while holding himself up against a wall.

“You’ve never asked me to make you one!” The shaking suddenly stopped.

Corey stepped away from the wall. “Uh-oh.”

“Jarvis! Suit, now!” The wall opened with all of the suits behind it and I grabbed the newest model. Once the suit had entirely enclosed over me, I tossed Corey a headset. We hit the stairs. Corey and I stopped on the second floor, which held the Avengers museum.

“Why are we wasting time here?” Corey growled

I found the case I was looking for and smashed into it, the alarms started going off. All the people in the building would get locked inside.

“Here,” I handed him the stolen object “Hawkeye’s bow. Thank me later.”

“I would, if we didn’t just get put on lock down.”

“The lockdown won’t stop us but, it will keep all the civilians inside.”

“How are we getting out?”

I began heading for the stairs “Hope you aren’t afraid of heights.”  I wrapped my arms around Corey and jumped off the stairs. We soared upward and crashed through the ceiling. Once outside, I took off in the direction of Loki’s apartment, praying he hadn’t left yet. We were there in a few seconds.

“What are we doing?” Corey asked. He sounded a little shaken.

“Retrieving an ally.” My helmet folded back to reveal my face. I cautiously stepped through the front door. I quickly absorbed my surroundings…I didn’t like what I saw. The place was torn to shreds. Vases were smashed, paintings were torn off of the walls, and a small fire had been started in one corner. The Jotuns worked fast. My eyes hit the front desk and I gasped. Andrew was laying a cross the front desk. I rushed toward him. I rolled him onto his back. He was covered in blood and ice cold.

“Corey,” he appeared behind me “how long has he been dead?”

Corey put his hands on the body’s face and neck. He frowned “15, maybe 20 minutes.”

I nodded and made my way up the stairs. The path of destruction led all the way up to his flat. His door was torn off its hinges and flung a few feet into the living room. It looked like a bomb had gone off. Furniture was snapped in half and chunks of granite countertop covered the floor.

“Hello?” I whispered “Loki?”

Corey grabbed my shoulder “Loki? Like evil Loki? Like, you told Bruce you took care of it Loki?”

“Yes,” I walked into the bedroom and nearly jumped out of my skin. “What the fuck is that?!”

On the floor was an extremely large blue thingy with a giant slash through his torso. I explained the sight to Corey.

“Sounds like we’ve met our first Frost Giant.”

“I hope all our run-ins are like this.” I looked around “Uh-oh, blood smear. Corey?”

He nodded “On it.” He dipped his finger in the blood and smelled them “Similar to his blood but not the same. Another Jotun, maybe?”

I threw him one of Loki’s shirts out of his dresser “Like that?”

He held it up to his face. After a moment he nodded. “Guess you just lost a major asset.”

That’s when screams started erupting in the street.

 

**_ Steve POV _ **

_(12:00AM-1:00AM)_

Bruce and I were sitting in his apartment trying to create a plan to defeat the Frost Giants. Maria’s information had been very helpful but we still didn’t know their plan of attack. Bruce was getting pretty frustrated with what we didn’t know.

“Wanna take a break?” I asked “You seem kinda frustrated.”

He put his head on the table and groaned. “How could you tell?” The sarcasm was thick in his voice.

“We’ll figure this out Bruce, we always do.”

“It’s not just that.”

“What is it?”

“Give you one guess.”

“Maria?”

“Bingo.” He picked his head up and leaned back against the chair. “How do I keep doing _everything_ wrong? I can practically feel Tony’s disappointment from beyond the grave.”

“You aren’t doing anything wrong. Maria adores you. Do you remember that malnourished, coke snorting girl that came in that first day? Where do you think she would be now without you? She is growing into a beautiful intelligent young lady and you have had everything to do with that.” He didn’t seem to be listening.

“Where did she get all this information?”

“You’re upset because she got us the information we needed?” I was confused

“No, of course not. She just used to tell me everything and now… _nothing_!”

“I feel like I’m missing something.”

“Every Thursday, she disappears for hours and I have _no_ idea where she goes! I mean, I have _some_ idea but... not because of anything she told me. I’ve had to put it together like I was freaking Sherlock Holmes! I just can’t even-“

I cut him off “Bruce. You’re ranting.”

He took a deep breath “Sorry.”

“Now, what do you think is happening?”

“Well, a few months ago, she met a guy and she _really_ liked him.”

My eyebrows furrowed “Is that a bad thing?”

“No, at first it was great. There were dates and she was in a good mood and thing were good. Until I found out who this mystery man was.” He scowled at the wall for a minute

“Who was he?”

“Loki.”

My jaw dropped “Loki, Thor’s brother? Was there an ulterior motive?”

“I don’t know. I came back to tell Maria and she said she already took care of it.”

“Define: took care of it.”

“I don’t know! She won’t tell me anything. But, it would explain where she got the information.”

“If told her all of that, what makes you think he is still evil?”

“This is _Loki_ we are talking about.” He thought for a moment “Maybe you should ask her!”

“What? Why me? I- I don’t really- Um…” I didn’t really know anything about that sort of stuff.

“She sees you as her hero Steve. You are the guy that pulled her out of a burning building and you fought harder than anyone to get her in the custody of one of the Avengers.”

“Having her in our custody wasn’t even in her best interest. That was selfish, not heroic.”

“Yes, but she doesn’t know that. You don’t have to get any details about their relationship, just…anything.”

I sighed “Alright I’ll- What is that?” The sky was filled with color. “Oh no.”

Bruce’s eyes widened and he ran to the window. “Is that…?”

“I’m afraid so. We aren’t even close to prepared.” The building started shaking and giant blue figures materialized on the street below. A group entered the building. “Any chance they’re looking for someone else?”

“Doubtful.” We ran for the stairs. I hurtled through the hallway but Bruce was getting too far behind me. I flung open the door to the stairwell and a Frost Giant jumped through it. I barely ducked in time and rolled to the floor.

“Bruce!” I yelled “Now would be a fantastic time to get angry!” Another Jotun appeared above and hit me in the face with something. And again. The last thing I saw was Hulk tearing down the hall before I blacked out.


	7. Chapter 7

**_ Maria POV _ **

Screams erupted from outside. Corey and I flew down the stairs, past the lobby, and onto the street. It was complete chaos. People were running from every direction and Frost Giants were destroying everything they could get their hands on. The Jotuns were dragging a large wheeled cage behind them with people inside.

“Corey. Get as many people to head towards the Tower as possible. Get everyone off the streets. When you get there, assemble every person you can think of that would be helpful and try to locate Bruce… “I ordered “The last part shouldn’t be too hard.”

“What about you?”

“I’m going to try to free the people in the cage. Then, I’ll meet you back home.”

He nodded and took off. I put my helmet back on and sent a blast toward the enclosure. That got their attention. The Jotuns charged at me.

“Woops. Didn’t plan this far.” I backed up a few steps. I charged forward and rolled under the first giants legs then flew up over the second. I zoomed through the air to bust open the cage but one of them grabbed my leg.  He slammed me into the ground. I snapped my ‘wings’ around me to add another protective layer. It didn’t really help. The two giants started tossing me around like I was a rag doll. Each of them grabbed a wing.

One laughed “Almost like a bird.” They pulled in separate directions and ripped the back of the suit off entirely. They started tearing the suit off piece by piece and playing catch with me. I hit the ground again and my helmet flew off. One of the Jotuns was about to smash my head into the concrete with his fist.

“Oh, fuck me.” I cringed but before he could land his blow, a spear went through the side of his head. He stayed standing while the light faded from his eyes. He started to fall and I couldn’t get out of the way fast enough. My lower body was pinned beneath him and all the air was pushed out of me. “Ow.” I squeaked. The other giant jumped at my savior and he soon landed dead near me with a knife shoved upward through his head.  “Help,” I whispered “Can’t…breathe!”

“Oops, sorry about that.” Loki came over and shoved the Frost Giant off of me.

“Well, I don’t think I have been this happy to see anyone in a long time. I thought they got you.”

“They almost did.” He had his shirt wrapped around his ribs as a bandage.

I pointed at the injury “That would explain the blood in your apartment. We need to get you to the Tower and patch you up properly.”

“Why?” he grinned “Is my half naked body distracting?”

I rolled my eyes “Maybe if we were in _any_ other situation and you didn’t look this grungy. Let’s free those people and head back.”

“What people? Everyone has fled this area already.”

“The ones in the cage.” I pointed in the general direction

“There is no cage.”

I looked to see what he was talking about. The cage was gone.

“Fuck! All those people!” I hit my head against the ground and stared at the dark sky for a moment. I sat up _very_ slowly. “Is there any sign of them?”

He walked over to the place I pointed “Not that I can tell.”

I haven’t wanted to throw a temper tantrum in a long time. This was one of the times the urge was pretty intense, I just didn’t have the energy.  Loki came back and started helping me up. I took off my last few parts of armor and tried walking but it was a slow, painful process. We only got about half a block down before I had to stop.

“Maria?”

“No.”

“No? You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

“Yes I do.”

“You aren’t even wearing shoes.”

“No.”

“Fine, I don’t need your consent.” He picked me up and flung me onto his back. I was in too much pain to struggle with him.

“I _hate_ Frost Giants…With you as the exception.”

He laughed but became serious very quickly. The sun was starting to come up over the horizon.

“Good morning.” I mumbled. I could practically feel his scowl.

“We need to get out of the open. We won’t be able to make it to make it to the Tower soon enough and the Jotuns will be looking for us. Do you know anywhere we can hide out for a while?”

“Yeah, Bruce’s apartment isn’t too far from here.” I told him whereto go and he followed my directions without question. We soon got to the complex and Loki stopped dead in his tracks.

“Oh my God.” I gasped and slid off of his back. The building was virtually torn in half. “What happened? Did the Jotuns do this?”

“You don’t know?”

I slowly limped in front of him and shook my head.

“Well, then I have good news and bad news. Good news: Bruce is alive. The bad news is that there is probably a Hulk running around Manhattan.”

My eyes widened “Bruce did this?”

He looked at me quizzically “Have you ever seen the Hulk before?”

“No, I have heard about it but, I always assumed it was a little exaggerated and Bruce doesn’t really talk about it.” Loki supported me as I hobbled toward the entrance. Once we were inside Loki set me down next to the door and went to scout the area. He came back with a large messenger bag. He set it at my feet and food spilled out of the top.

“The perimeter is secure. Eat up; we don’t know how long we have.” He peered out the door.

“Loki.” His head snapped toward me “Sit down. If they are coming we will hear them.” He sat cross legged in front of me but he was still tense. “Here, eat pudding and be happy.” I handed him a pudding cup and he smiled. He tore into it like a present on Christmas.

I shook my head “You have some serious pudding problems. We may have to send you to rehab.” I mumbled.

He handed me a water bottle and some Oreos. “I don’t see how my love of pudding is a problem.” He looked me up and down. His eyebrows furrowed.

“What?” I felt self conscious.

“You look like hell. You couldn’t have gone out to fight wearing something more?”

I was still in my pajamas, which wasn’t more than a t-shirt and boy shorts. “Sorry, the apocalypse wouldn’t wait for me to change my clothes. Plus, I originally came out in a suit of armor.”

“Mhmm.” Loki reached in one of the bags he already had with him and pulled out a first aid kit. He began to sterilize and wrap my major wounds. When he was finished with me he started at the one on his ribs. He slowly unraveled his shirt from around him.

The gash was much larger and deeper than I had imagined. “Um, Loki, how are you not, I don’t know… _DEAD_?”

He chuckled “Being a god does have some advantages.”

A god… I wonder. “Loki? Do you think Thor would help us?”

He glared at me but after a moment he just sighed. “I have been wondering the same thing. Asgard should have intervened by now. I don’t even understand how Jotunheim got control of the Bifrost. The Asgardians will step in at any moment.”

“What if they don’t?”

“They will.”

“Well maybe you could go up and-“

“No.” He stood up and walked a few steps away from me.

“Loki.”

“They don’t know I’m alive.”  He looked at the ground.

“What?”

“Why else would I be down here instead of in an Asgardian prison cell? I’m just going to do the safe thing. After I get you to the Tower I am going to, as you would say, get the hell out of dodge.”

“You’re going to leave? You’re not going to stay and help?”

“You don’t need my help. This is Thor’s pet planet, he won’t leave it unaided.”

I was livid. I stood up and glared at him.  “You coward.”

“Excuse me?” His face was full of shock, hurt, sadness, but most of all anger. Lots and lots of anger. If I were anyone else I would have backed down but, I wasn’t anyone else.

I folded my arms over my chest “Did I stutter? You. Are. A. Coward.”

He came and punched the wall beside my head. “I am _not_ a coward!”

“Really? Then is it heroic people that run away?”

“I am simply-“

“Running away.”  I interrupted. We glared at each other for a long time and I knew this needed more than just sheer force of will. I put my hand on his cheek and made soothing circular motions with my thumb. “What are you so afraid of? I know it’s not the Frost Giants.”

He sighed and dropped his arm “Everything I have ever done was for my family or because of them and _every_ _single_ _time_ I am a disappointment. The longer this went on, the more radical I became. Eventually, I became a monster. I don’t want to start that vicious cycle all over again. It _never_ goes well.”

“Why do you care what they think?”

“Why do any of us care what anyone thinks?” I my hand and he reached out and took it in his. The mood was much calmer than before.

“Loki, why don’t you stay for you?”

“What?”

“Forget what your family wants. Do what makes _you_ happy. This is your home and you have a right to fight for it, we don’t have to wait for Asgard to show up and fight for us.”

He stared at me for a long while. I think he was trying to assess what I was saying. He smiled and rolled his eyes. “God, you can talk me into anything can’t you?”

I shrugged “It’s a talent of mine.” A large booming thundered through the air and I nearly jumped out of my skin. “What is that?”

Loki listened “Drums?”

“What kinds of drums sound like that?”

“Jotun drums.” He looked at the sky “High noon. You know what all this means?”

“What?”

“An execution.”


	8. Chapter 8

**_ Maria POV _ **

I snapped my head toward Loki “An execution? Who would the Jotuns execute?”

Loki ducked back into the lobby “On the first day of invasion, they’ll only execute Frost Giants who have failed their missions. Anyone of the humans that has been captured will be tortured for information or, perhaps, they will be forced to perform certain tasks. The killing of your political leaders will happen tomorrow or the next day, then they will start killing people who have a voice among the people, then any military men, and finally women and children. They have perfected the method of morale crushing.”

“Should we do something?”  

He shook his head “The more Jotuns dead the better and we don’t have enough back up to their human prisoners yet.” He picked up his bags “We should try to get to the Tower while they are all still distracted…. Can you walk?”

I tested out my legs. They were still shaky but much better than before. “Yeah.”

“Let’s move out.”

Loki and I snuck through alleys and back streets avoiding as many Jotuns as possible. The few we did run into, Loki killed quickly and without hesitation. He was definitely a solider. He had always acted like Thor was the warrior in the family and that he was no fighter but, today proved otherwise. We eventually made our way into the Tower’s courtyard.

I stopped “Loki, the Tower is on lock down.”

“You can’t get in?”

“No, I can just…JARVIS will be on maximum security mode and you may trigger a negative reaction.”

He looked puzzled “What kind of negative reaction?”

I stared at him for a long moment “You _really_ don’t want to know.”

“Wait here a second.” I approached the entrance. 

JARVIS’s security system activated “Please state your name for voice recognition.”

I sighed. “Maria Antonia Stark…Plus one.”

“Please remain still for facial scanning.”

“Oh, come on Jarvis.” I groaned.

“Facial scan recognized. Welcome back Miss Stark.”

I waved Loki forward as the doors opened “Was all of that really necessary?”

“Just following protocol.”

I rolled my eyes “Where is everyone?”

“Downstairs.”

I dragged Loki with me toward the elevator. I hit the button that would take us down to the emergency shelter one floor down. After the Chitauri attacked Manhattan, my father became a little paranoid about future invasions. So, he set up an emergency underground shelter that could hold a couple dozen people. It seemed his paranoia had finally paid off. The elevator reached the floor and halted but the doors didn’t open. A small keyboard popped out from behind a panel in the wall.

“Please enter the password.”

“Um, shit.” I chewed on my nails for a second. “Who in the world added a password?”

“Colonel Rhodes.”

I snorted. “Friggin’ Rhodey.” I punched ‘WAR MACHINE ROX’ into the keyboard.

“Password accepted.”

I shook my head “Figures.” The door popped open. I stepped out of the elevator and gasped. The shelter was a massive concrete room with doors that led into a bathroom, an infirmary, and a lab. It was packed wall to wall with people. The line to the infirmary was about twenty feet long and hospital beds were starting to be set up along the back wall. I couldn’t help but look at all the people. A teacher was comforting a large group of school children that must have been coming here for a field trip, a man running around looking for his family, a lone little boy whose eyes were wide with fear. My eyes finally found Bruce. I ran toward him as fast as my weak legs would allow. I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. “Oh my God, I thought they might have got you! Where’s Steve?”

He relaxed in my arms “He’s in the hospital wing. He’s gonna be fine.”

I sighed in relief. Bruce started to tense up again. Uh-oh. I pulled back and looked him in the eye. “Bruce, don’t go all green on me now. Think about where you are.” I glanced over in the direction he was looking. Loki was kneeling next to the lone little boy talking to him about something; the boy was holding his hand and looked a little less scared than before. “Does that look like the deed of someone evil?”

He was taking deep breaths but his fingertips still had a green tint to them. “Maria, you have a lot of explaining to do and after that…You are so grounded.”

I laughed “I’m an adult, you can’t ground me.”

He glared at me lividly “Watch me.” I backed off. If the idea of me being punished comforted him, so be it.

“Alright.” I changed the subject “What has been happening since the attack?”

He shook his head the diffuse the thoughts of Loki “Fury contacted the West Coast Avengers and-“

“There’s a West Coast Avengers?”

“Maria.”

“Sorry.”

“Apparently, the Frost Giants have invaded every major city in the Americas and a few in Europe. Quiet a few places have fought Jotuns back but in a few places, like here, they have a stronger hold.”

“Can we expect any back up?”

“No, everyone has their hands full.”

“What about outside help? Have we heard anything from Asgard?”

“Thor hasn’t made any sort of contact. We aren’t even sure if he is aware of the situation.”

“The bifrost is controlled by the Asgardians, they _have_ to know _something_.”

“Why doesn’t _Loki_ contact them?”

I shook my head “That wouldn’t be in his best interest.”

Bruce was enraged… again. “His interest, _his_ interest? What about the interest of the world, Maria?”

“Bruce, I barely got him to stay and help us. Just give me a little longer with him and I _know_ he will be a beneficial ally.”

“A beneficial ally? Maria, listen to yourself! He is the _bad_ guy! We _fight_ the bad guys! When did that become unclear to you?”

“When did you start getting to decide who the bad guys are?”

“When you kill people, you’re a bad guy.”

“And how many people have you killed?”

His mouth opened but no sounds came out.

I continued “On your crazy Hulk rampages how many people did you kill? Or how about Natasha Romanov? How many deaths was my dad responsible for when Stark Industries still built weapons? Or even-“

“Yes, but we aren’t those people anymore. I can control myself better, Natasha began using her skills to help people, and your father stopped making weapons and started harnessing clean energy. We all _changed_.”

“So has he! He isn’t the same person anymore, he is ashamed of what he has done and he wants to be a good person. I swear! If you can’t trust him, please, trust me.”

Bruce kept looking back and forth between me and Loki talking to the boy. He eyes focused on me for a second before he squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. He sighed. “If he puts _one_ _toe_ out of line, I swear I will beat him so far into the cement that it will take _centuries_ for him to crawl back out.”

I gave a small smile “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”


	9. Chapter 9

**_ Maria POV _ **

Bruce and I were sitting by Steve’s hospital bed.  I had asked around and Corey never showed up. Steve had woken up not to long ago and he was going to be fine but he looked like someone had hit him in the face with a pickup truck.

 Loki was off…somewhere. He tried to avoid being around Bruce unless it was absolutely necessary. Steve seemed to be more accepting toward him but he stayed away from him mostly, too. Now that I think about it, he has been kind of staying away from me as well. What’s up with that? I mean I-

“Maria.” Bruce snapped me out of my mental rant “Are you even listening?”

“Yes.” I agreed automatically

“What are we talking about?”

Um….uh… “Okay, you caught me, what?”

He sighed “We were talking about where we would find the captured people.”

“Oh, well, I was thinking that we could ambush them at one of their execution thingies. Go in, guns a blazing… Fuck shit up. You know, the usual.”

Steve shook his head “It works in theory but, you would need a proper team… Your team is _far_ from ready. We don’t even know where they are.”

“They are doing their best to get here.” Bruce informed us “It’s getting pretty hard to travel around here.”

“So once they get here, how many people we talking?” Steve asked

“Well,” I counted them out “Me, you, Bruce, Mayday, Speedy, Kitty, Corey, Lok-“

“No.” Bruce interjected

“Come on, Bruce! We talked about this already. You are going to play nice.”

“Bu-“

“No.”

“Maria-“

“I don’t wanna hear it.” I looked down at Steve, he was laughing at us.

“You two…” he rolled his eyes “We need Loki to get in on our strategic meetings.”

“ _Steve_!” Bruce cried “Whose side are you on?”

“The side where we don’t all die.”

I smiled “I’ll get Loki to start coming. _Anyway_ , total we have about eight people…give or take. But, we still have to do something if they don’t get here in time.”

“Like, what?” Loki’s voice inquired behind me. I jumped about three feet in the air. “They probably won’t get here in time and the Solider doesn’t look quite battle ready. Bruce will have to stay behind and hold down the fort… That leaves you and me.”

Bruce stood up “I don’t think me staying behind is-“

Loki turned to him “What do you think will happen the second we all leave? What if the mission fails and we cannot return? Utter chaos.”

“Steve is staying behind already, why would I have to-“

“Oh yes, because Rogers looks fully capable of calming down swarms of people in this state.”

Bruce sat down in a huff “What did you have in mind Maria?”

“We have limited supplies down here but up in the lab I have all the equipment I’ll need. I was thinking that we could blow ‘em up.”

Bruce’s eyes widened “Maria, the materials you have would make nuclear weapons. If you use that to blow them up, you’ll take out all of Manhattan.”

“N-n-n-n-n-n-no, I was thinking of something much simpler.” I turned to Loki “Have you ever made a pipe bomb?” He shook his head “Well, you get to learn something new today.” I grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the elevator. We reached the doors and he slid his hand out of mine. I looked at him incredulously. We stepped into the elevator and I hit the button for the pent house. “You can sleep with me but you are too good to hold my hand?”

He sighed “It’s not that. I just think that maybe we should, I don’t know…distance ourselves from each other.”

I glared at him for a long moment “Fury talked to you, didn’t he?” he opened his mouth but I spoke before he could finish “Don’t lie to me.”

“I wasn’t about to.”

“You have your lying face on.”

“What? I don’t have a lying face.”

“Yeah, you do. It has about three more layers of innocence compared to your normal face.”

He rolled his eyes “ _Yes,_ Fury talked to me.” The elevator doors binged open and we stepped out.

“Mhmm, did he tell you he was going to shoot you out into space?”

He snorted “No, he said he would give me to the Jotuns.”

“Do you believe him?” He started down the stairs to my lab.

“Yes and no. I believe he could but I don’t think he would be willing to risk your allegiance to S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“Then, why listen to him?” I started gathering stuff we would need some Teflon pipe tape, a drill, bag of cotton balls, some fuses, some gun powder, etc.

“I’m not…exactly. This just… isn’t healthy on _any_ level. You show up once a week and we _violently_ take out the stresses of our lives out on each other. That’s not really an example of a good relationship.”

“You are such a girl.” I set the supplies on the work table “It’s not like we don’t talk or anything. We talk for hours on Thursday and I always call you later.”

He laughed “That’s not what I’m saying.” He shook his head “Neither of us are what you could call ‘stable’. I mean, look at us Maria. We are a little twisted.”

I scowled. I am not twisted. “Shut up and help me make these stupid bombs.”

I was not about to get dumped when I wasn’t even really dating him. I was giving him step-by-step instructions on how to make the bomb without blowing himself up. We added some of the finishing touches and finished I glared at our work.

“We finished?”  He asked

“I don’t know, are we? You seem to get to make all the big decisions.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know what you meant.” I threw my hands in the air and stomped out of the room. He followed close behind me. I made it to the bar and poured myself a drink.

He stood on the other side of the counter with his arms folded over his chest. “Why are you being like this?”

I ignored him.

“God, do you have to be a child about everything?”

“Excuse me?” I set my drink down and marched to his side of the bar. I stood toe to toe with him. “I feel like I am the only adult out of the two of us. You are always so busy trying to make everyone else happy that you can’t even really… argh!” I ran out of words. “I’m not twisted.” I stormed toward the elevator.

“Are you really arguing with me over nothing? We aren’t even really dating!”

I spun on my heel back toward him. He was a lot closer than I thought he was. It was a little disorienting. “Well then, I don’t see why you are taking the time to break up with me. Just don’t tell me where you move to and change your phone number… It’s that easy.”

“No, it’s not that easy.”

“And why not?”

He groaned “Because I actually like you! A lot! But, while emotionally we are near the same age, I am _thousands_ of years older than you and a whack job with a history of violent crimes! Do you really want some one like me around?”

“Maybe I do!” I yelled up at him

“Then you are just as crazy as I am!”

“I feel like we had already established this!”

He growled “You are ridiculous!”

“And somehow, you seem to like me anyway!”

“I don’t understand why! You are a crazy bitch, who is yelling at me for trying to do the right thing!”

“Well…Fuck you!”

“Fuck you too!”

“UGH! I hate you!” I shouted

“I hate you more!” His lips crashed against mine… I would like to tell you what I was thinking at this moment but mostly I was thinking “warm….soft… warm…teeth?....soft…wet…good.” It was kind of intense really, we had a lot of pent up frustration. Wow…we really _are_ unhealthy.

I pulled away from him and caught my breath. He set his forehead on mine. “What happened to ‘I hate you more’?” I panted

“Yeah, I’m still working on labeling my emotions.”  

“Hey,” I shoved him back “I’m still mad at you.” I got in the elevator

He shook his head and sighed “ _Women_.”

 

Author's Note: Based on a real argument...Yeah.


	10. Chapter 10

**_ Maria POV _ **

I had the bag of pipe bombs thrown over my shoulder. I was searching through crowds of people with Loki behind me, trying to find Bruce and tell him that we were about to head out. We had to get out there before heads started rolling. I found Bruce rewrapping some guy’s bandages.

I tapped him on the shoulder “Bruce,” he finished fixing the bandages and pulled us aside. “We need to go. Have you heard from anyone yet?”

He nodded “May said she would probably get here sometime today and S.H.I.E.L.D. picked up Sheppard and T’Challa yesterday. Speed is okay but, T’Challa has some injuries. We haven’t heard anything about Corey.”

I growled “We shouldn’t have separated. What was I thinking?”

“It wasn’t your fault.” Loki reassured me.

I shook my head and readdressed Bruce “We don’t have time to wait for back up. We gotta go. I kissed his cheek quickly “We’ll be careful.” I turned to leave

“Don’t do anything you’ll regret!” Bruce shouted at our retreating figures

I laughed “Don’t forget to live!”

The elevator led us into the lobby and JARVIS let us out.

“What was that about?” Loki asked as we snuck into the garage.

“What are you talking about?”

“Thing you and Bruce said.”

I smiled “Actually, it was a fight we had once. Now, it’s just how we say good bye.” I changed the subject “We need a car that we don’t mind destroying. I know we have some in stock just for that purpose…somewhere.”

Loki snorted “Now, would you rather destroy the Aston Martin or the Porsche?”

I made a face of pain “You touch my Aston and I will beat the fucking shit out of you. That baby is vintage.”

“How about the Lamborghini?”

I glared at him “You are _so_ funny.”

He shrugged “I try.”

I spotted what I was looking for “Aha! Mustang!” I located the keys and hopped in.

Loki slid in next to me “We are going to destroy a Mustang? I hope you know, every poor person hates you at this point in time.”

I shrugged “Meh, I’ll get over it.” I started the car and revved the engine. “Music to my ears.” I pulled out and sped out of the garage.

At first all the streets were entirely empty but, after a few minutes, it was becoming very difficult to maneuver through the road. You could see that people took off and left their cars. I was hitting cars more often than not and soon, it became impossible to move forward. Lucky for us we didn’t have too much farther to go. We slipped out of the car and began making our way over the other vehicles.

I was leaping off a SUV when Loki suddenly pulled me to the ground “Shh! Listen!”

I was quiet for a second “I don’t hear anything…”

He sighed “Mortal ears…. Come on, hurry up.” We made it past the cars and I saw it. It was a large stage about ten feet high…and covered in blood. I stopped in my tracks and stared at it. Loki grabbed my arm. “Come on!”

We found a building a couple of stories high and climbed up to the fire escape. Once we were on the roof I dumped out the bag.

Loki picked up my metal suit case. “What’s in here?” he asked

“Nothing, it’s my suit.”

He nodded in approval “Crafty.”

The ground started shaking lightly “Jotuns?”

“Jotuns.” He agreed. I peeked over the ledge and Jotuns were appearing from every direction and forming a massive mob around the stage. Part of the crowd split and the cage was rolled into the center. They dumped the people out onto the stage.

“Ready?” I asked as I took the first pipe bomb in my hand. I didn’t wait for an answer. I lit the fuse and flung the bomb into the air.

It exploded right over their heads. Well we have there attention. There was a moment of confusion while the Frost Giants tried to figure out where the blast came from. I took this opportunity to throw a bomb into the crowd. The giants started to flee the scene and only a couple seemed to notice or location. The people on the stage made a run for it and I threw a bomb behind them to cover their asses. Loki was throwing the explosives toward every large group of Jotuns there was. Something grabbed Loki, I turned and a Jotun unexpectedly shoved me off of the building. I had a second of free falling before another caught me and slammed me into the ground. Several things cracked. I think…I broke…..My body. The Jotun picked me up and flung me over his shoulder. I wanted to struggle but, every motion brought excruciating pain. I wanted to take it as a good sign, it meant I wasn’t paralyzed but, I was having trouble looking on the bright side. I knew that if I blacked out this thing would take me somewhere to kill me or torture me or something so, I was fighting the urge as hard as I could. Loki had somehow made it to the ground and I could see him fighting his way toward me. Three Jotuns rushed him and took him to the ground. I watched him thrash around as this Giant carried me away. I could feel the consciousness leaving my body. I watched Loki get smaller and smaller as we got farther and farther away. I saw his head get repeatedly smashed into the cement. Over and over and over…Until he was lifeless…I hope he’s not dead…I really…hope. I slid into the comforting black fog of unconsciousness. It was kinda nice.


	11. Chapter 11

**_ Maria POV _ **

I was gradually getting pulled back into reality. At first the only thing I was aware of was the agonizing pain radiating through my body.  Slowly, I was becoming more aware of my surroundings. A dirt floor beneath me, bars around me, and it was disgustingly hot. My eyes opened all the way and I _carefully_ sat up. I began examining my injuries. My left shoulder was dislocated, I had at least six cracked ribs, and there was definitely something wrong with my spine. My upper body had seemed to take all of the impact and my legs looked generally unharmed.

I heard a small moan on my right and my head snapped toward the sound. Lying on the ground in a cage next to mine was Loki. I dragged myself over to where our cells connected. I stuck my good arms through the bars and could just barely reach him. I started roughly tugging his hair.

“Loki!” I whispered “Wake up! I have no intention of going through this imprisonment alone! Loki!”

He began to stir and I could tell he was coming back to the land of the living. I pulled at his hair harder.

“Ow…” he grunted “Stop that please.”

I stopped pulling but left my hand in his hair. “Wake up.”

He moaned “Give me a second.” I waited a beat and he looked up at me. He didn’t seem to like what he saw. “Well, you look terrible.”

  “Oh Loki,” I sighed “You sure know how to make a girl feel special.”

He snorted, and then reality hit him. He got up quickly and began examining the cell. He didn’t say much but occasionally he would shake his head. I laid my head against the cool floor while he continued his little investigation. I was starting to doze off when he plopped back down in front of me.

“The Jotuns have been planning this for a while,” he informed me “These cells are definitely Jotun made and they have been here for a while.”

I glanced up at him “And, this helps us how?”

 “It doesn’t.”

“ _Great,_ got any ideas?”

“Well, I believe our first plan of action would be escaping.”

“ _Really,_ I _hadn’t_ thought of that. _I_ was just planning on lying here _hoping_ that the Jotuns would kill us quickly.”

He shook his head “They would draw out the process as long as they could.” I raised my head and stared at him for a moment. Realization hit him. “Oh, sarcasm! Sorry.”

I rolled my eyes and set my head back down. “What happens if we don’t escape soon?”

He took my hand and held it in both of his “Torture.”

“Oh, is that all? I don’t think they could make me feel worse than I already do.”

“Physically, maybe not. But, in your state, they won’t be interested in physical torture.”

I snorted “Why break something if it’s already broken?”

“Exactly, they are probably going to get deep in your subconscious and fuck around.”

“Always fun.”

He squeezed my hand tightly “Maria, if we don’t find a way out in time-“

“Grr, now is not the time for that sort of thinking.”

A door slammed in the distance. Large footsteps thudded down the path in front of our cells. The Jotuns opened Loki’s cell door and threw someone in. Corey’s unconscious body hit the ground with a thud and the Frost giants locked the cell back up. Loki crawled over to Corey to check up on him. He was still breathing do, I knew he was alive. I just wish I knew more about his state. My door was thrown open and a Jotun stepped in. I rolled over onto my back and hissed in pain. He reached down to grab me and I sunk my teeth into him. He pulled his hand back for a second but was mostly unaffected by my attack. He tossed me over his shoulder and my adrenaline started pumping. I was hitting, and kicking, and biting him with all of the force I could muster. I fought with all my might until I was injected with something. My whole body went limp and my brain was starting to get all fuzzy.

Loki was shaking his cell door and he reached out to me “Remember where you are!”

The Jotun and I entered a new hall. We walked into a smaller white room and he threw me into a reclined chair and strapped me down. A small man stuck an IV in my arm.

I giggled “You tiny, you’re not a Giant.”

He smiled down at me “No, but I’m not from Midgard either.” I could tell. His eyes were a strange toxic green and his skin was the orange of a bad spray tan. “What’s your name?” he asked

I was going to lie, “Maria Stark.” But, I didn’t seem to be able to.

“Hm, any relation to Howard Stark?”

Howard? How would he know him? “Yes, he’s my grandfather.”

“Really? How interesting. Stark Industries helped us build this little place. I mean, not for the torture of Midgardians but, we were testing out some weapons that would affect the psyche.” He injected something into my IV “Sadly, the program was eventually shut down due to a lack of proper funding.” He sighed remorsefully. I could feel blackness closing in on me. “Good night, Miss Stark.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I jumped awake. “Ah!” I rubbed my temples. What a weird dream. I flung my legs out of my little bed and hopped down. My nightlight was throwing different shapes along the wall and I used its light to find my way into the hall. The light in the living room was still on. I was shuffling through the living room into the kitchen when I was stopped.

“Isn’t it past your bed time young lady?”

“Sorry Mommy.” I rubbed my eyes and looked at her. She was sitting on the couch working, she had tear stains trailing down her face and I knew she had been crying again. I walked over to her and curled up in her lap. She spent most of her nights crying, Noah died a couple weeks ago and it didn’t feel like she knew how to be happy anymore. She started running her fingers through my hair.

“Did you have another bad dream?” she cooed softly.

I nodded and took one of her hands in mine. My chubby child hands looked funny next to hers.

She sighed “You’ve been having an awful lot of those lately.”

I shrugged.

She gave me a tight hug and buried her face in my hair. “I love you.” She whispered

I hugged her back “I love you too.”

She pulled me off of her lap and patted my bottom “Off to bed now. Steve will be here early tomorrow and I know you are going to need all of your energy.”

I slunk back toward my room and noticed the light on downstairs. I peeked behind me to make sure my mother wasn’t watching and darted down toward the lab. I punched in the code and slid in the door.

“Daddy?” I called

He was at his work bench tinkering with something. He looked back at me and smiled. “Hey kid, shouldn’t you be in bed?”

I shrugged “I couldn’t sleep.”

His face got softer “I know the feeling.” He waved me over “Come look at this.”

I came over and he plopped me down in his lap. He rested his chin on my shoulder and began showing me some things he tweaked on the thrusters of the suit. I added a comment or a question here and there and he would smile and explain more.

“See,” he explained “this way it will use less fuel to keep me up in the air for long periods of time.”

I furrowed my eyebrows “But, wouldn’t you be freefalling every other second?”

“Yes but, I have shortened that time so-“

Mom cleared her throat behind us. I looked at her and sunk back into Dad.

“Maria, go to bed _now_.” She ordered. I ran past her and scuttled up the stairs. Halfway up I stopped and listened. They were fighting again, they fought a lot nowadays. They fought about how to run the company, and money, and Iron Man, and me. They refused to talk about what happened to my brother and I knew their fighting was how they vented all their pent up feelings but I still wished they would stop. I finished my ascension up the stairs and walked past my room. I opened Noah’s door and slid into his bed where the world was safer.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I gasped as I was ripped back into reality. The orange man was standing above me and staring at me curiously.

“Well,” he smiled “That was quite a show.”

I tried to clear my head “What?”

“Oh, let me explain. See these little wires attached to your head?” Well, I do now. “They are taking all your little visions and projecting them on this tiny screen.” He patted a small box that looked a lot like a television. “This way we can see the things that we need.”

“Why?”

“Knowing the thoughts of your enemies can be a very useful thing Miss Stark. Right now, you are feeling a bit sentimental and a little lonely. We can always use human emotion to our advantage.” He pulled out another syringe.

“N-n-n-n-n-n-no, please don’t-“ He injected the fluid into the IV and I was pulled back under.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 I woke up to the sound of glass shattering in the other room. I could hear my parents’ yells echoing throughout the house. It had been over a month since Noah died and they still wouldn’t talk to each other about it. I could hear doors slamming and someone stomping around the house. I got up and pressed my ear to the door. It sounded like everything they had ever fought about was resurfacing. Mom was yelling something about how him being Iron Man was going to kill us all.

“What do you want me to stop saving people?” Dad yelled

“You are putting the lives of your family in danger! You should care more about _us_ than your job!”

“Being Iron Man is more than a _job_ Pepper!”

“While you’re out gallivanting around, your family is falling apart!” he must have said something I didn’t hear because Mom growled and threw something “I can’t even talk to you anymore!”

“Why? Because I’m not Steve?” he shouted.  What did Steve have to do with anything?

“What does he have to do with anything?”

“Don’t think I don’t know what is happening in my own house! I’m not blind Pepper!”

“You are so childish and selfish and vain! You can’t even do one thing for anyone else!

“I do everything for other people! I haven’t done something for myself in a decade!”

“If you are really so _selfless_ Tony, I want you to do one thing. Choose.”

“What?” he sounded shocked

“Me or Iron Man?”

“Pepper,” his voice had grown significantly softer “You know I can’t just stop being Iron Man. The world needs me.”

There was a long moment of silence before she responded.

She sighed “I hope you’re happy with the decisions you’ve made Tony.” I heard her go into their room and start shuffling through the drawers.

“ _Pepper_.” You could hear the tears in my dad’s voice “ _Please_ , don’t do this.”

“I didn’t do this Tony…you did.” She trudged into the entry way of the house.

“Pepper, we should talk about this.”

“Tony, I’m done. I’ve had enough of all this. I just can’t…I can’t…Goodbye Tony.” I heard the door slam. He must have gone after her because I didn’t hear any other movement. After a few minutes, the front door opened again and only one pair of feet shuffled inside. I hurried and jumped back into bed. My door creaked open and Dad tiptoed in. He came and crawled under the covers with me. I wrapped my small arms around him and hugged him with all of my might. We slowly drifted off to sleep.

When I awoke the next morning Dad was gone and a pleasant aroma was filling the house. I crawled out of bed and shuffled into the kitchen. I sat at the breakfast counter and was immediately served blueberry yogurt pancakes. I stared at them and then looked into the trashcan. Not a single burnt pancake.

I looked up at my dad “So, when did Steve get here?”

He laughed “What, don’t think I could have done all this by myself.”

Steve appeared behind me “I got here a few hours ago.” I turned in my stool and hugged him.

I spun back toward my pancakes but I couldn’t eat them. I took a deep breath “She isn’t coming back, is she?”  Steve took my hand in his and Dad brushed a strand of hair out of my face.

Dad sighed in defeat “I don’t think so.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

My pull back into reality wasn’t as violent this second time. It felt more like waking up from a vivid dream. It took me a moment to remember where I was. It was getting harder to distinguish what was real and what wasn’t. My mouth was dry and it was obvious that I was out longer than the last time.

“Welcome back.” The little orange man smiled “Thirsty?” he put a glass of water to my lips and I drank it greedily.

I finished the glass before I saw the error of my ways. “Did you just poison me?”

The man laughed “No, I need you alive much longer.”

I sighed “What for?”

“You do have access to some of the most powerful weapons technology on this planet. Once we have fully taken over, we intend to use your knowledge and power to help conquer other worlds. But, first, we need you to be a little more obedient.”

I groaned as he injected more of the fluid into my IV.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I heard the front door shut and I leapt out of my bed. I ran out of my bedroom and jumped right into my dad’s arms.

“Miss Stark,” My nanny scolded behind me “You should be in bed!”

“It’s alright Ms. Payne, I got it from here. You can go home now.”

“Alright Mr. Stark, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Don’t bother coming in,” he started carrying me toward the lab “I’m gonna be working at home for a while. I gotta spend some time with my kiddo.”

Ms. Payne grabbed her bag and left. Dad carried me into the lab and punched in the key code.

“Wanna see what I was working on today?” I asked excitedly. I jumped out of his arms and ran over to the work table. I picked up the Iron Man arm I was working on and showed it to him.

He looked at me worriedly “I don’t know how I feel about you working on the suit…”

“Too late, I already did. Look, you know that rippling effect you wanted the thrusters to pull off, but you could never do anything about that moment of freefall?”

“Uh-huh.” He prodded.

“I think I may have solved that problem.

We both sat down on the bench and I set the arm back on the table with a loud clank. His eyes widened significantly.

I snorted “Don’t look so surprised.”

His face reverted back to normal. “Sorry. So, tell me all about it.”

“Well, instead of it rippling straight, it will ripple in a circular pattern. You would be making small microscopic circles the whole time with only a nanosecond of freefall. You wouldn’t even notice the motion and yearly it would save enough energy to power Malibu for a little over six months. I have already run the diagnostics and, if we start now, we could have these flight ready in under a week.”

He just smiled at me for a while. “Do you know how smart you are?”

I snorted and rolled my eyes “Stop that.”

“No, really, you are the smartest person I have ever known. Smarter than me, smarter than my father, smarter than everyone. You are going to change this world one day and make it such an amazing place.” He brushed my hair out of my face “God, you’re growing up so fast.”

I smiled “I’m only ten, Dad. I still got some growing up time.”

He looked sad “You’re going to grow up so much faster than you expect. _Anyway_ ,” he shook his head “I want to get a closer look at this before we go into manufacturing overload. Can you go upstairs and get my sonic screwdriver off of my dresser?”

“Sure, Dad.” I hopped off of the bench and he flinched “Wow, you’re jumpy today. Having anxiety today?”

“Just a little.”

I hugged him “Just remember to breathe.”

I skipped out the lab and into the hallway. I stopped in the middle of the hall when a thought occurred to me. Sonic screwdriver? That wasn’t a real thing. Wasn’t that from Doctor Who? I was about to turn back to the lab when an explosion erupted below my feet. I structure of the house collapsed and I fell into a vacant part of the lab. I hit the ground and a support beam trapped me on my side. Smoke was filling the room at an amazing rate and I could feel the heat of flames behind me. I tried to wiggle free from the beam but I couldn’t seem to get loose. I took a deep breath to scream for help but only ended up with lungs full of smoke. I began coughing and spitting up bile from the pit of my stomach. My eyes were running like mad and my vision was blurring. I felt my shirt catch fire behind me and not even smoke could keep me from screaming. I felt the flames lick their way up my back with an agonizing slowness.

“Maria!” I heard some one yell and they followed the sound of my cries.

Steve dived into the hole that I was trapped in and freed me from beneath the beam. He grabbed me and climbed out of the hole. When we were back in the hallway he put out the last of the flames on my back. He threw me over his shoulder and ran out the closest exit.

Everything was kinda blurry after that. I screamed for my dad but, no one would tell me what had happened to him. At some point the ambulance had come and Steve was sitting in the back with me. After all of that, I blacked out. The whole night I had nightmares of being trapped in that fire for eternity.

I awoke in a haze. I was lying in a bed on my stomach and covered in bandages. The smell of anesthetic and the inhuman whiteness told me I was in a hospital. I could tell I had been put on some very heavy pain killers due to the strange fuzziness of everything. I looked around me as best as I could. Natasha and Clint were sitting asleep together in the small chair. Bruce was talking to Steve in a corner and Thor was pacing back and forth at the end of my bed. I looked around for Dad but couldn’t see him anywhere.

“Hey guys.” I mumbled. My voice was hoarse and barely audible but they still seemed to hear me. Thor and Steve rushed to my side while Bruce woke Clint and Tasha. I smiled at them groggily “How is everything?”

Steve’s eyes started watering “It’s good to see you awake, kid.”

Thor smiled softly “Of course, this woman is a maiden of iron. No, puny fire could hold her down.”

Natasha sat on the other side of me and tied back what little was left of my hair. She began brushing it softly. “Do you need anything baby?”

I shook my head slightly “Where’s Dad?” They all looked at each other. “Oh my God, is he okay? Has he been hospitalized? What room is he in?” I started to slide out of the bed but several pairs of hands stopped me.

Steve took my hand and looked me in the eye. “Maria, sweetheart-“

“No!” I ripped my hand from his “Where is he?!” I yelled

No said anything. Bruce came over and knelt beside me. “Maria, honey, he’s gone.”

“Gone? Gone where?” My brain was taking a long time to process what I was being told.

“He didn’t make it to the hospital. The explosion… He didn’t make it.”

I finally understood what they were saying. “He didn’t…make it?” I mumbled to myself. I let the words bounce around in my head for a while. I started screaming “ _NO_! NO! NO, NO, NO, NO!” I was thrashing around and slamming my fists into the bed. I could feel blood beginning to soak through my bandages and Tasha tried to calm me down. She tried to reason me into calmness but I just screamed louder. I started ripping the IVs out of my arm. Orderlies entered the room and Steve held me down. I felt a needle pierce my skin and moving became harder and harder. When I couldn’t thrash around anymore I began sobbing violently into my pillow. I felt hands try to comfort me but none of it was any good. I just sobbed until the medication covered me in darkness.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I slipped back into reality and clung to it like a life preserver. I _refused_ to go back into my drug induced memories. I would fight getting sucked back in with all of my might. I tried to hold back my sobs but every time I thought I was done a new wave of pain crashed over me. I looked around for the little orange man but he was nowhere to be seen. I could hear crashing and yelling coming from the end of the hallway. I tried to sit up but I was still strapped onto this stupid chair. The crashing stopped and I could hear people talking. Footsteps were coming closer and closer to my door and I tried to escape my restraints.

“Check in there.” I heard a voice order from behind the door. The door swung open and a large man with long red-brown hair, a massive beard, and an axe stepped into the room.

He looked as shocked to see me as I was to see him “Hello maiden,” he greeted “I am Volstagg, may I be of service?”


	12. Chapter 12

**_ Maria POV _ **

I stared at Volstagg for a second before I started laughing through my tears.

“Yes Volstagg, would you be so kind and remove my restraints.”  He sauntered over and started undoing the straps that were holding me down. I reached over and ripped the IV out of my arm. I sat up slowly. “Um, could I also ask you to pop my shoulder back into place? If it isn’t any trouble?”

“Of course.” He stepped up behind me a gently grabbed my shoulder “Ready?” With the flick of his wrist and a loud pop, my shoulder was reset.

I grit my teeth in pain “Thank you.” I pushed my self off of the chair and collapsed to the floor. “Shit.”

Volstagg ran to my aid. He tenderly picked me up off of the floor and supported my weight as we walked into the hallway. “May I inquire your name maiden?”

I smiled at him “Stark, Maria Stark.”

A voice sounded from another room. “Maria Stark?” I heard a loud thud and a door opened to my left. A familiar large blonde man stepped through the doorway with a look of surprise.

“Thor?” I could hardly believe it “I haven’t seen you since…A _really_ long time.”

He looked me up and down “My, you’ve grown a great deal in the years that have past.”

“Yeah, twelve years will do that to a person.”

Some chick followed by a blonde guy and Jackie Chan approached us.

“The area appears to be clear.” She informed Thor “I think we liberated everyone up here.”

“Alright Sif, Volstagg and I are just about finished with this part of the building. We just need to check behind a few more doors.”

I pointed to the door that Corey and Loki were trapped behind. “There are people imprisoned back there.”

Sif glared at me “Who is that?”

“She is an ally.” Reported Thor “A Maiden of Iron.”

“An Iron Maiden.”

I snorted.

Thor shook his head “You aren’t supposed to call her that. I have been told it refers to a torture device and some sort of musical group.”

The other blonde stepped forward “I am Fandral, fair maiden.” He leaned down and kissed my hand. “These associates of mine are Lady Sif and Hogan. If you ever need-“

“Fandral,” Thor interrupted “Now is not the time.”

We all made our way to the door and Jackie Chan kicked it open. There didn’t seem to be any Frost Giants behind it.

Then it hit me “Thor, there is something you might need to know.”

“Can it not wait?”

“I don’t think it can.”

Fandral found the keys and threw the cell door open before I had time to explain. He stared into the cell. “Thor,” he called “You may not believe what I’m about to tell you.”

“What is it?” Thor darted to the prison. The expression on his face changed from joy to shock to relief to anger very quickly.

I let go of Volstagg and hobbled over to the cell door. Corey was conscious but not entirely aware of what was happening. Loki was sitting against the far wall with his hands in the air like he was under arrest. I clung to the bars and made my way toward him. He stood cautiously and met me halfway. I collapsed in his arms and he held me for a second. To anyone watching it simply looked like I had fallen and he had caught me but I could feel the relief flooding between us. He helped me stand straight again. Fandral and Hogan were helping Corey up from his spot on the floor. Loki helped me toward him and I threw my arms around his neck.

“Thanks for not dying.” I whispered

I could feel him shake lightly with silent laughter “Any time.”

The next thing I new Loki was shoved into a wall with Thor’s hammer inches from his face. I jumped toward the two and supported myself on the wall beside them.

“Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait-wait!” I yelled

“Step away Maria,” Thor ordered “You have no idea who this really is.”

“Sure I do. Loki Laufeyson, God of Mischief, brother of Thor. He grew up thinking he was the child of Frigga and Odin but, later in life he discovered he was actually stolen from Jotunheim. To make his daddy love him he tried to destroy Jotunheim but this resulted in him flinging himself into an abyss. He arrived in Midgard seeking out the Tesseract and used it to unleash the Chitauri on Manhattan. He often tries to pretend he is evil but everyone knows he just wants daddy’s approval. He and Odin have a terrible relationship but he is still his mother’s favorite. Until this moment, you all thought he was dead…a second time.”

Thor paused for a beat “Alright, so you do know him. But what does that-…Wait, your mother’s favorite?”

Loki laughed “Wow, you really didn’t know that?”

“Loki,” I scolded “Now is _really_ not the time.”

He nodded “She’s right. We can discuss our differences elsewhere.”

Thor loosened his grip and stepped back. “Let’s go.”

We all began retreating the building at a slow pace. Volstagg courteously offered to help me walk and I graciously declined. I shuffled next to Loki for a while until we met stairs.

I sighed “This is going to be tedious.” Loki shook his head and picked me up bridal style. We followed the others up the stairway.  “Oh Loki, you sure know how to sweep a girl off of her feet.”

He smiled a second but stopped after he took a good look at my face. “You’ve been crying.” He whispered “Are you alright?”

I tried not to scowl “Yeah, I just… Things were brought up that I spent a lot of time trying to forget.”

He nodded understandingly and didn’t discuss it any further. That was one of the things I liked most about Loki, he understood that I didn’t want to talk about stuff and he didn’t prod me to discuss my emotions further.

We were apparently pretty far below ground because it took us a while to get up to ground level. The cover store seemed to be a drug store, which kinda made sense. Loki set me up on a counter and began searching through various snack foods. He brought me back a water bottle, some pretzels, and a big bag of chocolate kisses.

“You sure know how to treat a lady.” I tore into the chocolate and watched as Thor, his homies, and Corey talked in the opposite corner. “What?” I mumbled to Loki “We don’t get to be in the cool kid group?”

“I don’t. You just chose mot to be in the ‘cool kids group’. They drew a line and you picked my side.”

“ _Well_ , they suck anyway. Plus, their side doesn’t have delicious stolen chocolate.” I put a piece in his mouth and he laughed. I guzzled the first three bottles of water and Loki brought me my fourth. He grabbed a pack of baby wipes and I let him clean the dirt, blood, and tears off of my face. The feminist in me was yelling about how I could do this by myself and that I shouldn’t let him baby me. The rest of my brain was saying “Fuck you, we deserve to get taken care of sometimes you loud mouthed bitch.” What? Your brain isn’t like that too? I could see the anger growing in Loki’s features.

“What?” I mumbled between pretzel bites.

“I hope they killed the Jotun that did this to you.” He tossed the last wipes into a nearby trashcan.

“Actually, the damaging stuff wasn’t done by an Jotun. It was this little orange guy with trippy green eyes.”

Loki was sucked deep into some train of thought that I didn’t want to interrupt. Thor & Co. came over to our spot, except Corey who seemed to have fallen asleep.

Thor addressed us “We need to get to the Tower and assemble as many warriors as we are able. I have a plan to defeat Jotunheim.”


	13. Chapter 13

**_ Maria POV _ **

I slid off of the counter I was sitting on. “Wait, a plan to destroy Jotunheim?” I furrowed my eyebrows “I thought the army of Asgard raining down from the heavens was the plan.”

“Well,” Thor hesitated “Odin hasn’t _exactly_ given us permission to be here.”

Loki groaned “Of _course_ he hasn’t. Why would he ever do something that didn’t benefit him directly?”

“Mind what you say.” Thor snapped “That is our father you speak of.”

Loki rolled his eyes but didn’t reply to the comment. “Are you feeling well enough to walk?” he asked me.

I stretched out my legs a little “Yeah, I think I’m good.” I shuffled over to Corey and shook him awake. “Corey, we gotta get going.” He started awake and took a swing at me. “Whoa, there!”

He seemed to remember where he was “Sorry, I’m just a little jumpy.”

“We have to get going.” I helped him up from his seat and noticed all the damage the Jotuns had done to him. Unlike me, his torture was very much physical. His had a variety of bruises covering his body and a large gash down the right side of his face. I didn’t have anymore time to examine him because we had to leave.

We went outside and began searching for a car that would be big enough for all of us. I spotted an Escalade. It’s been while since I’ve stolen one of those. I pulled out my phone.

“Jarvis, commandeer this car’s computer system for me, will ya?” The doors unlocked and the engine stared.” I smiled “I love technology.” I turned toward the group “Come along children.”

I slid into the driver’s seat. I waited as they all piled into the car. The second all the doors were shut I slammed on the gas and sped through the streets. Luckily for me, we weren’t _ridiculously_ far from the Tower and I was vaguely familiar with this part of the city. It only took about a half hour drive to get back home. I parked the car in the garage and we hurried to the entrance.

“No time for the crap Jarvis, just let us in.” The doors popped open. We all hustled through the lobby and squeezed into the elevator. I hit the button for the penthouse.  “Jarvis?”

“Yes, Miss Stark?”

“Get Bruce and Steve up here please.” Corey, the Asgardians, and I exited the elevator and dispersed throughout the living room. I shuffled into the kitchen and grabbed a couple boxes of Poptarts. I walked back into the living room. I opened a box and threw a package to Corey. “Eat.” I ordered.

Thor looked up at me excitedly “May I have some Poptarts?”

I smiled and threw him some. I had just passed out Poptarts to all of my “guests” when Bruce and Steve made their way to our floor. I was immediately smothered in love.

They each took a turn hugging me way to tightly. _Oh, my poor broken ribs._ I didn’t verbalize my complaint. 

Bruce grabbed my face and began assessing for damage “What happened? Are you okay? How badly are you hurt? Do you have any severe head trauma? How many fingers am I holding up?” he started shaking his hand in front of my face.

I took his hand and set it back down at his side. “I’m fine Bruce. Take a look at Corey; he’s worse than I am.”

Bruce’s eyes searched the room for a second before landing on Corey. “Corey Barton Romanov, where were you all of this time? You were supposed to get out of the line of fire and…”

He continued on his rant while examining Corey but I stopped paying attention. I put my arms around Steve’s neck and let him support my weight. All my adrenaline was wearing off and it left me tired and in a great deal of pain. “I brought you a friend.” I mumbled sleepily

“Hm?” he looked at the group and his brain processed what he was seeing “Thor?”

Thor shook his hand and did a weird half hand shaky hug thing. It probably would have been a regular hug but, that would have required me to move.

“Greetings Captain Rodgers. It is good to see you again!” Thor bellowed. Was Thor always so loud?

Bruce’s head snapped toward Thor’s voice. “Thor?”

“Banner,” Thor hugged him “What has occurred while I was away?”

They continued their conversation while I started to doze off. I was just drifting into sleepy dream land when Bruce tapped me on the shoulder.

“Yeah?” I grunted

“Corey’s wounds seem to be of a superficial nature. Extremely painful, but not to deep and they should heal in no time. I’m more worried about the damage the incident has had on his psyche.” He ran his hand through my hair “Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

“Sure, I’m fantastic.” I mumbled

Loki snorted “What a liar.”

I wonder if anyone else saw the irony in that statement.

“Meaning?” Bruce prodded him

“She got slammed into the concrete without her suit on by a Frost Giant. I’m surprised she survived the experience. Following that bone shattering encounter, they then got into her brain and played around for a little while. It’s a wonder she is still standing.”

I glared at him “Traitor.” I refused to look at Bruce. I didn’t want to see the worry flood his face. “I’m fine, _really_. If it makes you feel any better I’ll go take an X-ray right now.” I grabbed Steve and dragged him toward the lab with me.

“Do you want me to go down with you?” Bruce asked

“Nope, I only need one extra pair of hands. Steve will do.”

The wobble down the steps to the lab was excruciating but I tried not to let it show. I entered the pin and pushed through the doors. The second the doors shut I lost all sense of will power and my knees gave out.

Steve caught me before I hit the floor. “Feeling fine, are we?”

I laughed humorlessly. Steve half carried me to the little infirmary section of the lab. He set me down on the cushioned table and started searching through the drawers.

I began stripping down to my underwear “I couldn’t let Bruce see me like this. He would probably worry himself into a coma.”

Steve handed me a bottle of Vicodin and set the X-ray tablet next to me. “While you might be right, it doesn’t mean you need to ignore your injuries. Look at you Maria.”

I looked down at myself. The sight was ghastly. I had more bruised skin than not and I had a rib bone that needed to be pushed back into place. It wasn’t a pretty sight.

“Now imagine Bruce saw this, what would he do? He might die.”

Steve put a small cup of water in my hand and I took somewhere between 5-7 pills. He lightly brushed his fingers across my protruding rib.

“If you don’t tell him, at least tell someone.” He sharply snapped my rib back into place.

I gasped. “I intended to tell you…at some point.”

He rolled his eyes and picked up the tablet. I turned it on and explained how it worked. He took the first picture of my ribs and their picture showed up on a large screen.

“So you can tell me but, you can’t tell Bruce?” he asked “How does that make sense?”

“Different relationship.” I shrugged slightly “I spend most of my day trying to make Bruce proud of me. While you, on the other hand, I want you to take care of me and make everything all better. If you two were a joined person, we would have the perfect father/daughter relationship.”

“Is that so?” He started X-raying my back “If that is the case, can I ask you a question?”

“You can ask but-“

“What did they do to you?”

“They slammed me into the concrete.”

He came back around to my front looking a little irritated “You know what I mean.”

I sighed “Nothing really. I just had a little trip down memory lane.”

“Maria, you have had plenty of traumatic things happen in your life. A trip down memory lane is a dangerous thing.”

“Well, at first, it wasn’t that bad. It was actually kinda nice.”

He pulled up a stool “I’m listening.”

“It was a couple weeks after Noah died. I had a nightmare and for a long time I was just curled up in Pepper’s lap, cuddling. Just being comforted by my…Pepper. It felt _so_ real, didn’t have any thought of my life when I was older. It was like that moment…really was the present. Everything was right. It all looked the same and felt the same and _smelled_ the same………She sent me off to bed but I went down to the lab.”

“Was Tony down there?”

I smiled “ _Yeah_ , it was the most amazing thing! It was like he was never gone. We talked about his new feature he wanted to try on the suits and all the energy it would save and I was just so…at home.”

Steve’s face filled with worry and his voice grew very soft. “You know we can’t bring him back.”

The reality of his statement crushed me. I was getting too absorbed into my little hallucinations. “I know. Anyway, all the magic of it faded rather quickly. They started fighting and I fell asleep in Noah’s bed.”

“Is that all?”

“I lived through the day _she_ left. It wasn’t that bad though, just a lot of yelling and then pancakes.”

He smiled sadly “I remember.”

“Yeah, I remember getting told that you were going to stay with us for a little while but you never left.”

He snorted “I moved out after a few months.”

“To a house that was, what, a whole two minutes away?” The thoughts of my house in flames smothered me for a second. I quickly shook the memories from my head but my eyes had already begun to water.

Steve held my hands in his. He already knew what I was thinking about. “The fire?”

“It started out as such a normal day.” I wiped my nose “I was _so_ excited he was home….I was upstairs and boom, the floor collapsed beneath me and there was _fire_ _everywhere._ If you didn’t show up in time…I- I would have…” Steve reached up and wiped away the stream of tears running down my face. “I woke up in the hospital and I was so confused about what had happened. It took me so long to understand that he was gone. Then I was just _so_ angry for _so_ long.”

Steve stood and wrapped his arms carefully around me. “I know.”

I blinked back the rest of my tears. Now was not the time to have a sob fest with Steve. I cleared my throat “Sorry, I’m really tired and the emotional side is trying to take over.” I slid off of the table and began flipping through my printed X-rays. “Pfft, eight broken ribs, a cracked tail bone, and my spine is out of line. Really Jotunheim, is that all you got? Well, Bruce is gonna want to see these.” I grabbed my bottle of Vicodin and headed out of the door with Steve on my tail. We entered the living room and a feeling was buzzing through the space. “Wait,” I licked my finger and stuck it in the air “Is that…hope I’m sensing?” I handed Bruce my X-rays without looking at him. “Do we have a plan?”

Loki smiled “I think we are going to reverse the bifrost.”

“...Meaning?”

“We are going to suck the Frost Giants back into Jotunheim.”


	14. Chapter 14

**_ Maria POV _ **

Loki stood up and let me take his seat on the couch. I sat down and Bruce started going through my x-rays; he didn’t look happy.

He was about to say something but I interrupted him. “How are we going to reverse the… frosty-thingamajig?”

Volstagg laughed “The bifrost? Normally Heimdall would open the bridge but, seeing as the Frost Giants have taken that part of Asgard, we are going to have to get creative.”

I put my head in my hands and tried to fight back my fatigue. “Creative how?”

“Loki has been able to maneuver around the bifrost in the past,” Thor explained “We were hoping he would get us through unnoticed. Then, we would activate it and bring all the Jotuns into Asgard. From there, we’ll have to find a way to return them all to Jotunheim.”

“Alright, sounds easy enough.” I put my head in my hands; they day was really staring to weigh me down. “What’s the problem?”

Sif rolled her eyes “Getting the Giants from Asgard to Jotunheim, we-“

I stopped her “After they are in Asgard it isn’t my problem anymore.”

She took a defensive stance “We travelled here against the will of Odin to come help your silly planet, and you are going to make us deal with all of your-“

“N-n-n-n-n-n-n-no,” I stood up “ _This_ is all _your_ issue. You guys didn’t protect the bifrozen thing and now _we_ have to suffer for it. My job is to protect my ‘silly’ planet, why don’t you do yours? I think it’s about time you clean up your own mess.” And that is when she got up in my face. I didn’t care how injured I was, I was about to throw down with this bitch.

She growled “I think you need to-“

Loki jumped between us and pushed us apart. “Ladies, I don’t think _now_ is the best time.”

Sif shrugged away from him “ _Don’t_ touch me.” She glared at him in disgust.

_That_ pissed me off. “Why?” I snarled “Is your little princess self to good to be-“

“ _Maria,”_ Bruce scolded “That’s enough.”

I huffed and sat down, but not before I made one last face at Sif. It escaped my notice that everyone was standing, tensed for a fight. Loki sat next to me and wrapped his hand around my wrist. It felt less comforting and more like a restraint.

I turned toward Bruce, “Did the last of my team arrive?”

“Yeah, they’re downstairs but, they are _far_ from battle ready.”

“I know but… it would be wrong to not help Asgard pick up after themselves. A sloppy team is better than no team at all. Plus, it’ll help build some political ties between the realms.”

Thor stepped forward, “I would be honored to have your help.”

I smiled at him. “Now, _everyone_... get the fuck out. I am tired as fuck and I don’t want to hear all your battle strategy while I’m trying to sleep. Corey, if you need a bed… you…can…” My sentence drifted off. Corey was already snoring lightly in his chair. My head snapped back toward everyone and I shooed them all away. My body collapsed on the couch and _finally_ I got to sleep. We had a plan, my makeshift family was safe, and soon all my problems would be solved. I was completely peaceful…

I should have savored the moment; it would be the most peace I would get for a while. 


	15. Chapter 15

**_ Maria POV _ **

The sun was creeping over the horizon; glinting off of miscellaneous weapons scattered through the room. My makeshift team was beginning to look edgy in their seats. I didn’t blame them really… This plan had an 80% chance of all us dying but, it got the Frost Giants off my damn planet.

It should be easy to trust these guys to get the job done. They have all had their share of field experience. I shouldn’t worry… Right?

Speedy started laughing.

“You got a problem Sheppard?” Steve barked

“Yeah,” he stood “This is going to get us killed.”

I snorted “Is that a new concept to you? We are _superheroes,_ isn’t that the job? We are supposed to protect the people of Earth or die trying. If you didn’t understand that part of the job description, feel free to leave.” Sheppard hesitated but sat back down. “Good.”

Bruce walked in with his phone in his hand. “I’ve been getting calls from Peter and Harley and plenty of others wondering if we need some back up. I told them to stay put and clean up any ‘messes’ we might leave behind. All of the Asgardians are getting anxious to get this over with.”

“They wanna start? _Already_?” I wasn’t planning on going this early.

Bruce nodded “They’re waiting for us on the landing. It’s time to head out.” He grabbed Steve and pulled him into the hallway.     

I rose from my spot at the head of the table “Alright guys, I really suck at speeches so…let’s try not to die today. I’m a little fond of you all.” There was a mix of smiles, smirks, and eye rolls. “Suit up.” We began grabbing our stuff and heading out the door. While everyone was making their way over to the balcony, Loki was sitting on the couch frowning at the ceiling. I broke apart from the group and shuffled toward him.

“Waiting for an invitation?” I plopped down next to him.

His scowl deepened “No.”

“I was joking, you don’t really need an invitation.”

Loki shook his head “It’s not that. I just… I…” He took a deep breath and turned toward me “Someone is probably going to die and someone _will_ get severely injured.” He began surveying the room.

“I know but, we can’t just let the people suffer. Do we have any other options?”

Instead of answering me, he pulled me in and kissed me. While I went along with it and enjoyed myself, two separate thoughts began forming in my head. One was “Oh, that’s why he looked around the room. He was making sure we were alone” and the other was a dawning realization. I pulled back when the idea had fully formed.

“They’re not gonna let you come back here after this, are they?” I mumbled

He gave me a sad smile “I doubt it.” We stood and drifted out the door.

On the balcony, everyone was clearly on edge. No one really liked this idea. Sif was the first person to speak up.

“Can you explain it again?” She was rubbing her temples “I still don’t really understand the concept.”

I sighed “You have cattle on your planet right? Well, you herd the cattle into corral and everything is fine right? But what happens when they get really anxious?”

“They start trampling each other.”

“Yes, think like a meat grinder but with Jotuns… and more tightly packed.”

“How do you expect us to survive that?”

“Well, not getting stepped on would be a fantastic start.” I smiled

She didn’t seem as amused. “If I die… I’m coming back to life just to take you down with me.”

I laughed. When she turned toward Thor I leaned over to Loki. “Can she actually do that?” His facial expression was answer enough. I sighed “I was afraid of that.”

Loki stepped forward “Everyone, stand in this general vicinity.” We all stepped in closer.

He looked at me for his cue. “Beam me up Scotty.”

I didn’t quite expect what happened next. We were all sucked into this weird rainbow vacuum thing. It reminded me of some of my more experimental years on the street. As quickly as it started, it was over… and I wanted to vomit. We were standing in a large golden dome room, that I assumed was the Bifrost, trying to regain our sea legs.

Sheppard held on to the wall laughing “Did that remind anyone else of Mario Cart?”

Once I was stable enough to see straight I noticed a black guy with a giant ass golden helmet and a big ol’ sword standing in the middle.

His eyes met Loki “Well, your mother will be glad to see you. She-“

Thor interrupted him “We need you to take the Jotuns off of Midgard.”

“Asgard has just exterminated all of the Giants from our planet, and now you expect me to bring along more?”

“Well, yes.”

“I cannot be a part of this treasonous act but, I will not go out of my way to stop it.” And with that, he left, leaving his sword behind him.

“Well,” Volstagg laughed “That was easy enough.”

I sighed “Don’t get used to it.”

We gathered at the center of the room and Thor held the sword in his hands. “Is everyone ready?” There was a simultaneous nod from all of us and Thor slid the sword into its slot and begun the final battle for Midgard.

 

 

 

 

**__ **


	16. Chapter 16

**_ Maria POV _ **

When the sword clicked into its spot a swirling rainbow vortex began to open up.  We all spread out to the edges of the room. Everyone had a jittery look to them. Some with excitement, others with fear. The only one who looked remotely calm was T’Challa, and I’m still not sure if he ever shows emotion. A handful of freaks against an army of giants wasn’t a very fair fight.

A rather horrifying thought hit me. “Thor, how many Jotuns made their way to earth?”

“A few thousand.”  He bellowed

“How do we expect to fit that many giants into this tiny room?”

“We don’t.” Sif replied “They are going to overflow the Bifrost after a few hundred. It took them a few days to get the whole army to your planet.”

“What happens when they overflow the Bifrost?”

She just stared at me for a moment “Do you _really_ want to know?”

I thought about it “No.”

The Bifrost started rumbling and I spared one last glance toward Corey. He seemed to feel me looking and gave me a small nod. Part of me began to panic, what if this was the last time I saw him, and I all got was a nod? Would I ever get to see Bruce again? It was the smart decision to make him stay behind. He wouldn’t have fit in here and we needed someone to take out any giants that were left behind. Should we have made Steve stay with him? Maybe it was wrong to bring him but not Bruce. That part got shoved into the back of my head and told to shut up.  My suit unfolded and slid over my body.

An instant sense of relief flooded me. I would _always_ have Jarvis, if all else failed, he would take care of me.

The screen lit up and his voice echoed through the helmet. “No better way to start the day than with a good slaughtering.”

I snorted “That’s what _I’ve_ always said.”

The first dozen Jotuns were unexpectedly shot into the room. Sheppard and T’Challa tackled one, May webbed three together on the floor while, Corey hit two simultaneously in the eye and brought them down immediately. The rest of us stayed back because this plan wouldn’t work if we killed too many in the beginning.

About fifty more appeared and stared tripping over the other ones and I could see the meat grinder effect already beginning. I shot one in the neck with a fluid filled dart and he began convulsing and taking other Jotuns to the ground.

More and more Frost Giants were getting thrown into the mix and it was getting hard to avoid getting squashed. I saw Speed barely tackle Corey in time to avoid a falling giant. T’Challa was using Jotuns to launch himself at other Jotuns and May was avoiding the situation all together by sticking to the walls. I noticed Sif stab one through the chest but two more took her to the ground. I zipped over and shot one in the back. His body sagged and the other one turned to attack me. Loki jumped in, smashed his head into the ground, and snapped his neck. Then another Loki tripped a stumbling Jotun onto Volstagg’s axe. Actually, there were Lokis all over the place. The real one was easy to spot; he was the one fighting back to back with Thor.

During all of this fighting, I didn’t once see Steve. I leapt into the air and flew in a large circle around the room. I spotted him, Asian Guy, and Pretty Boy battling it out against about twenty Frost Giants. I dove into the swarm and began shooting at anything big and blue. The Jotuns began surrounding me and I could barely move.

“Jarvis, does this suit have your blade wing thingies?” I asked

“Yes ma’am, would you like me to enable them?”

“Kinda wish we did a test run.” The wings shot out of my back and took out a large circle of Jotuns. Sadly, I was also having trouble not spinning all over the place. The spinning finally stopped and I snapped the wings back in. “We really need to work out the ejection part of that.”

Suddenly, the whole room started shaking violently. “Sif!” I yelled “What happens when the Bifrost overflows?”

“Why don’t we get out of here before we find out?” she ordered

“Sounds like a solid plan.” I gave the signal to get out of the way. Our job was done. The Jotuns were so panicked and thoughtless they were doing more damage to each other than we could ever do to them. I hung back and made sure everyone made it out then I gave one final blast and tumbled out the door.

All of us stood on the bridge watching the Bifrost do its damage.

“How are we going to turn it off before it destroys Midgard?” Pretty Boy (Fandral?) asked

“We aren’t.” Thor grunted “We have to destroy the bridge. We can return everyone home with the Tesseract.”

 Thor lifted his hammer and struck the ground several times.

“You may want to step back.” Loki yelled

We all backed up as Thor took his final swing and the Bifrost came tumbling down.

After what seemed like constant noise, we had a moment of silence. Everyone had made it out. A sigh of relief rushed out of me.

Corey sniffed the air “Who’s bleeding?”

Perhaps I spoke to soon.

There was a thud behind me and I turned to see Steve kneeling on the ground with his hands full of blood. His blood. He had a huge hole in his abdomen. I jumped forward and caught him before he collapsed.

“Oh God, oh God, oh God. Steve, your gonna be okay. It’s gonna be fine.” It was only moments before I was sitting in a pool of blood and Steve’s eye glazed over.


	17. Chapter 17

**_ Maria POV _ **

It felt like an eternity since I had last been here. This cemetery built to honor fallen heroes… Funny, we didn’t expect it to start filling up so fast.

I sat crisscross on the grave with my fingers tracing the letters on the tombstone.

The rest of the cemetery was practically empty of the living. Which makes sense I guess, not many people in this line of business have time for friends and family. Part of me wished that every person who owed these heroes their lives was here, paying their respects, saying thank you. But it was probably better this way, after a lifetime of struggle it is probably nice to just lie there in peace.

“Are you happier where you are?” I whispered to the tombstone. This was ridiculous because this carved rock couldn’t hear me nor could it give the response of the person whose name was written on it. It’s frustrating having so many questions and having no one to answer them.

A hand rested on my shoulder. “You okay?” Steve asked tenderly.

I sighed “I’ve been better… I’ve been worse. At least there is no great threat looming over our heads… At the moment.”

“True,” his grip tightened on my shoulder reassuringly “And everyone is safe.”

I snorted “As far as we know. Loki got hauled back to Asgard where they are doing God knows what, Sheppard and T’Challa ran off back to S.H.I.E.L.D. the first chance they got. We _assume_ everyone is okay.”

“Sometimes the healthy thing to do is assume the best.” He slowly sat down next to me and his face tightened in pain.

“Is your stab wound still sore?” The concern was clear in my voice. “I thought you got enough pain meds to knock out an elephant. Should I have them give you something stronger?”

He waved his hand as if to brush off all of my concerns. “I don’t take ‘em anyway. I don’t like not being completely alert. Plus, I’m healing just fine without them.”

We just sat in silence staring at my father’s tombstone for a little while.

I generally like to visit Dad’s grave by myself but something about Steve’s presence made everything easier to deal with. Sometimes I feel like Steven is the only parent I have ever had. I feel guilty about the thought as soon as it enters my head. Time to redirect my thinking.

“Do you ever miss him?” I muttered

“Tony?” He looked into the distance, recalling some memory, and smiled softly “All of the time. One of the best people I knew.”

I took a moment to absorb the answer.

I couldn’t stop the next statement from leaving my mouth. “I can’t remember what he sounded like.”

Steve looked at me sadly.

“I remember what his face looked like,” I continued “I remember his smile, the genuine smile and the sarcastic one. I remember how bad his cooking was and the way he looked when he was working on an equation or tinkering with his suits. But, for the life of me, I can’t remember what he sounded like.”

He nodded “It’s understandable. You were still pretty young when you lost him.”

“More than half of my lifetime ago.” I agreed.

“I wish he had gotten to watch you grow up… God, you two would have fought like cats and dogs.” He snorted

“What makes you say that?”

“Two stubborn, sarcastic, know-it-alls under the same roof? No, nothing could go wrong there… But, he would have enjoyed it. I am sure you would have too.” He started laughing “I can’t imagine what it would have been like when you started dating.”

I smiled at the thought. I would try and bring a boy home and Dad would be sitting on the couch in his suit, maybe with Steve or Clint or maybe even Natasha beside him. Trying to intimidate and, probably successfully, scare of my date. But I’d never get to see that happen.

“Do you think that if Dad had survived the Clint and Nat would have lived?”

“Maybe, it was his death that sent them off to that island in the first place. A lot of things would have been different if he had lived. But I know they still would have been targeted, we all were.” Steve stared at me for a long time but I kept my focus on the words etched into the headstone. “You know your dad never wanted this life for you. He never wanted you to be a superhero or work for S.H.I.E.L.D. or any of it. He had everything all planned out. You were going to be CEO of Stark Industries and he was going to watch you have the most successful business in the world and you were supposed to settle down in some secluded area of the world and be safe and happy. He never wanted you to be involved in any of this saving the world nonsense. None of these intergalactic pissing contests or these multi-realm political battles. This is a dangerous profession and no one seems to go into a quiet retirement.”

“You did.”

“I thought I did. Then Fury pounded on my door and said I had to come help you and make sure you didn’t get yourself killed”

“What can I say?” I shrugged “I’m high matinence.”

“Seriously though Maria, you are getting in deep by joining up with S.H.I.E.L.D. With every person you save you make ten more enemies.”

“Someone has to be the people’s hero, don’t they?”

“Maria,” he pushed my hair out of my face “There is only one thing that people love more than building a hero up… and that is tearing one down. The people will turn on you the second that the wind blows in the other direction.”

“I have faith in them.”

“I used to, too. It only leads to disappointment. We only make bad decisions and get the ones we care about hurt.”

I finally met his eyes. “Who have you lost faith in Steve? Mankind? Or yourself?”

He laughed humorlessly “A little bit of both I guess.” He looked toward the setting sun “It’s starting to get dark.” We stood and Steve shuffled back to the car while I still stood at the grave.

I remember telling the worker what we wanted written on Dad’s headstone and how he kept telling Steve how long the message was and all Steve said in response was “Has anyone ever known Tony Stark to be a man of few words?” The message was humorous and heartbreaking. Very much like Tony Stark himself.

As I left the grave I glanced back to read it one last time. The words that let me know I had to live up to his name, had to be a hero to these people even if it seemed impossible.

**Anthony Edward Stark. Genius, Millionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist, Father, Hero.**

**He _is_ Iron Man.**

 

 

 


End file.
